


Love To Watch You Go

by sorrymumlmao



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Smut, M/M, Slow Burn, Sorta smut in chapter one, some Non-Con elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-07-14 09:10:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16037378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorrymumlmao/pseuds/sorrymumlmao
Summary: Being a gaudy, over the top, show off elf in a world without magic meaning you have to conceal all your sweet moves is one hardship.Losing all contact with the one person you ever loved and being told to never come back? Pretty rough my dude.Having the hot guy you invited to have rough sex with you all night end up being a hunter who's set on killing you? Yeah not too crash hot either, homie.In which I don't know how to write a summary but basically Taako is having a real fucking bad time, and getting feelings for the enemy when your world just keeps on throwing stones at you really isn't the most solid game plan





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!! This is my first time writing a fic in like two years or something, and the first time I've had a long term plot in mind where the writing relies more on describing action and negative emotions, so this is really different for me. There is a mild non-con element in this first chapter so please keep that in mind. Furthermore while this fic is rated explicit I’d like for it not necessarily be seen as a smut fic. I’ve never written smut before, as can be seen by how poorly done the limited amount of it is in the first chapter, but due to characterisation choices it will be an aspect of the fic. I’d like the main plot and romance to be primary but u do u friends, I don’t write it good so you’re probs not gonna get a huge amount out of it lmao. It should be pretty obvious where the sexy times start and you can skip to the last six or so lines to not miss out on any plot too. Anyway, feedback would be neat. Tbh this was a real speedy write up so I could just get the beginning of my idea out there so it's definitely far from perfect. My biggest issue at the moment I believe other than pacing is kind of carrying Taako's characterisation into the narration, but hopefully i can figure it out soon enough <3 again, I'd love to hear what you think to figure out if I should really spend my time writing this or just keep it as a mental au. I have a very long, slowburn idea in mind for these two that I'd like to explore but again, good chance my writing isn't good enough to pull it off!!! If you like it or have anything to add please let me know!!

With a contented sigh, Taako opened the oven to check on his latest work, smiling as the sweet smell of the blueberry muffins hit his nose. Taako placed the baked goods onto the counter behind him, moving to the pantry to search for what he needed. They were just about ready to be served, all they needed was one last touch…

There! He picked up the small corked beaker. As Taako removed the lid with a pop, he smiled happily and gave the powder inside a quick whiff. Smelt just like warm cinnamon, or at least that was the simplest explanation. It’s true smell was a little more abstract; It smelt like coming home after a long trip, or like the memory of a long forgotten meal shared by one’s family, it smelt like joy and love and nostalgia and whatever it was one’s cold heart needed to warm, and despite Taako having smelled this concoction a thousand times, he couldn’t stop the way his heart softened like butter sliding down a pan.

However the chef was quick to shake himself from his thoughts. While in the moment the feeling was incomparably beautiful, those feelings of sentiment and nostalgia would lead to things he didn’t necessarily want to remember in the long run. This spice of Taako’s own creation was not too dissimilar to a drug, and while for most part it was the perfect substance with no negative effects, those who didn’t necessarily hold those memories in the first place were destined to suffer as the effects wore off.

It didn’t matter though. As long as it made people happy and wanting to come back, that was all Taako needed.

Sighing, Taako gave a quick sprinkle of the powder over the muffins before dejectedly placing the container back into the pantry. As happy as he was with his creation, he couldn’t help but be disappointed by the simplicity. Back home, experimentation and innovation was encouraged and it really drove Taako to practice and grow his hobby into a truly wonderful talent. However, he wasn’t home anymore, and he probably never would be again. Sure, Taako still liked to get a bit zany in his home, but here while he was working, such cooking didn’t exactly provide the results that Taako needed to get by. Fancy restaurants that invited criticism and only offered small servings were not what Taako had to offer for his own gain.

It wouldn’t be long before the early risers, commuting workers and disgruntled university students would come to Paloma’s Brew to pick up their daily fix of coffee and a speedy takeaway breakfast. Angus was currently cleaning and preparing to open for the morning, and until the doors were opened Taako would just have to sit and wait for his own feed to come to him.

 _Paloma’s Brew_ was Taako’s pride and joy. In the constant thrum of a city filled with humans whose light had faded from their eyes over time laid a small beacon of warmth, a reminder of home and hope. The cafe was only small in size, it’s decor rustic and horrifically out of place in the contemporary city of Goldcliff, and there was no doubt that it stood out like a sore thumb with its wooden interior, warm lighting and haphazard decoration that seemed to stretch from floor to ceiling, but that was part of the charm. While Taako would dedicate the business’s success to his own good looks and charm, he knew that what people came for was the feeling of home in a city that seemed to lack comfort. It was where the people could remember where and who they were before the greed and pressures of the modern world had distorted their minds, and with that fix they could keep trekking in a world gone mad with a smile on their face, even if it was only temporary.

Taako was placing the pre made baked goods into the display fridge by the counter when the first customer walked in, Taako noticing the tired looking woman’s shoulders relax the smallest just by walking into the building. She only ordered a latte, but that was fine. Angus was quick to get to work on it, his hands moving with deft experience over the controls of the coffee machine and studying the cup as he filled it, ensuring the perfect brew. When Angus went to add the sugar, Taako couldn’t help but smile at the way Angus bit down on his bottom lip, fighting the temptation to make a cup of his own to start the morning.

“Help yourself, buddy,” Taako chuckled, “I know you’ve been working double time with your assignments and still keeping up your hours here, you could use the pick me up, my dude.”

Angus’s eyes went wide, “Oh no sir, I couldn’t possibly accept such an offer! Especially considering the amount of times you have already let me… I’m not a paying customer and, not to cause offence, sir, such generosity isn’t exactly a good business plan.”

With a wave of his hand, Taako let out a giggly exhale. While Angus had a fair point, money had never been the reason Taako had started this business, his needs were a lot more abstract. Sure, Taako did feel a little guilty about pushing the kid into what could be compared to an addiction, but it wasn’t like it was hurting anyone. In fact, it made his patrons nothing but happy, and that was the point after all.

“Hey, kid, if you don’t wanna you don’t gotta, you feel me? But you’re a good dude and I want you to feel free to help yourself. Maybe not with the food since that takes a lot of effort, but the drinks are all yours, dude.” Taako didn’t push the subject further, instead heading back into the kitchen to continue his preparations for the day. From the front, he could hear the polite voice of Angus thanking the woman for her patience and handing the coffee over, and it was mere moments later that Taako was given his own morning sustenance. Taako smiled as he felt the energy move through him, lifting his spirits and putting an extra spring to his step. That much energy just from a drink, jeez, that woman must be having a real rough time.

Taako wasn’t originally from Goldcliff, that much could be seen from his fashion, but furthermore Taako wasn’t from anywhere that was labelled on any known map. You see, once upon a time, magic ran rampant throughout the world. Even humans could use it to a degree with training. Dwarves, elves, gnomes, tieflings and a countless amount of races were all welcome to roam the Earth. As beautiful as magic was, it did however lead to issues as well. People were given too much power, sometimes more than they knew how to control and sometimes more than they deserved, and such power disputes had lead to violence in the end. Humans who did not possess the same amount of magic ability as other races became greedy, wanting such power for themselves. At first there were unregulated experiments, to see if magical energy could be transferred between races which, for the most part, proved unsuccessful. This naturally lead to civil distrust and eventually the humans began a war upon those that used to be their allies. Magical beings fled, travelling far and wide to form hidden bases atop of magical lay lines, and with their departure, magical energy followed, returning to the hotspots whence they came.

Taako was not alive for this period of time. He had heard tales of the horrors and bloodshed, been taught the greed and darkness that laid in the hearts of humans. New Elfington, along with the other hidden cities, was a heavily guarded secrets from the outside world. No one was allowed in or out and with the closing of the gates, and the opportunity for adventure and discovery closed with it. New Elfington was, in theory, idyllically beautiful. It was lush and green, with cascading waterfalls and an ethereal glow that seemed to touch every surface. Everyone was peaceful and understanding, civility being one of the most respected values, even if it was only selectively practiced as Taako had discovered in his youth. At the centre of New Elfington laid a small pool of water, a bright teal in colour. It swirled endlessly, forming shapes and casting visions of the outside world, though Taako admitted the only thing he had ever been able to make out was animals, similar to making shapes in the clouds (He was a chef, not a prophet, god damn it).

Taako’s days in New Elfington were long behind him. He’d had his reasons, hating the idea of being born in a bubble only to die there without having ever truly lived. He didn’t like to think of the night he escaped, the betrayal in his sister’s eyes, begging him not to leave, telling him he would die out there and that she wasn’t ready to be left again. On bad days where he would remember too much, he could practically taste the venom in Lup’s tone when he had turned her back on her, throwing her umbrastaff at his back, his sister telling Taako that he would never be welcomed back, not into New Elfington and certainly not into her life.

He had his reasons, and he was sure Lup had her own for not coming with him. Those thoughts did not heal the wounds, however.

He had learned three things almost immediately when entering the new world:

1\. Magical energy was scarce, if it was even existent

2\. The presence, or lack of, of said energy had a direct effect on his health, both physical and mental

3\. The people of this world did not know how to respond to a man with large ears wearing a skirt (after a couple of interactions he learned what cosplay was and that proved to be a helpful excuse until he could use magic to disguise himself again, though their lack of tolerance to gender expression was really quite unnerving).

After many days of wandering, health decaying and that glow to his features that had once made him so beautiful slowly fading, Taako had made a discovery. As he had walked the busy streets of some city he did not know the name of, he had spotted a decrepit man sitting on the corner of a sidewalk, a cup in his hand as he asked for money. Countless people walked by, each one pretending that he did not even exist. Sure, Taako understood that sometimes money was tight, but not even making eye contact? Pretty rude dudes if you asked him.

As Taako approached, the man didn’t even look up from the side walk, probably having given up after so much rejection time and time again. However, when Taako sat beside the man on the sidewalk, rummaging through his bag to find something, the man with the cup gave a quizzical look from beneath his bushy, unkempt brows.

“Hey dude,” Taako began, having found what he was looking for, “I’m kinda new here and to be totally honest with you, I don’t even know like, what currency is used here let alone how to get any, but I’ve got this.” And Taako outstretched his hand, a shiny yellow stone fruit laying in his palm. The man didn’t know what to make of the fruit at first, not being able to recognise it, but he lifted it to his lips quizzically before taking a tentative bite.

That was all it took.

The man’s eyes lit up almost immediately, looking down at the fruit with astonishment as the sweet juices threatened to drip down his chin. It was like nothing he had ever tasted in his life! It was sweet and spicy all at the same time, like an apple pie, but no, not like that at all. As far as the man was concerned, it was incomparable to anything in this world, and with how delicious it was, trying to figure out what else it tasted like was put on the sideline for now.

However, when the man’s face split into joy as he devoured the fruit, Taako felt a strange, new sensation run through his own body, lifting his spirits and renewing the vitality he had lost since leaving his home. He could practically feel the way his skin became firm and plump once more. Shocked, he discretely tried to cast a spell. He had been wanting to cast Disguise Self since he left, and if this worked…

He held a hand mirror to his face and gasped when he noticed that his long, pierced ears were the size of a regular humans. He looked around, worrying that perhaps someone had spotted his transformation, but he was quick to remember that no one in this place seemed to give a rat’s ass about anything other than themselves. Lucky for him he supposed.

Both men made eye contact again, utter joy and happiness stretching across their faces, both having found something they thought they had lost. It was on that day that Taako discovered the magical potency of pleasure.

Since that day, Taako worked hard at fulfilling small deeds of kindness, converting as much pleasure and joy into magical energy as he could and, with time, he was eventually in a stable enough place to open _Paloma’s_ _Brew_. Sure, creating magically laced foods that brought people utter pleasure costed some magical energy, but the pay off was more than worth it. Making comforting food for people who had lost all hope was like a factory line of bringing pleasure, with each customer bringing in energy, and as his popularity grew he almost had gained more energy than he knew what to do with. _Paloma’s Brew_ had become its own little magical hotspot, and one that opened its doors to all. It was everything Taako could have wanted from a home away from home, and the long hours distracted him from remembering his actual home.

He smiled happily as he heard the bell above the door ring and Angus greet the new comer with a cheery and polite greeting. Despite how accurate the elders had been about the greed and despair of man, Taako was happier in this crazy world than he ever could have imagined.

 

* * *

 

Food was far from the only way to bring humans happiness, and as much as the elf loved cooking it also wasn’t exactly his favourite method.

Taako leaned against the bar of the club, his elbows behind him in a casual pose as a flirtatious smile flitted across his lips. A cosmopolitan was being held lazily in one hand as he assessed the dancing crowd before him, tapping the brim of the glass in time with the frankly too-loud music as he tried to pick a target for the night.

He definitely didn’t need any more magical energy, and this particular method was one he used to use only use in dire times, however over time Taako had learned that he could earn his own pleasure from it too, regardless of energy. Casual sex wasn’t exactly seen as negative in New Elfington, but it was incredibly vanilla, all missionary and passionless, and since coming to Goldcliff, Taako had come to learn that pleasure could be found in more than one place on his body, and over time he had become quite fond of the act of bottoming. While in New Elfington everything had been slow and methodical, the goal of achieving orgasm being all that mattered, Taako had learned that a good, quick and hard fuck seemed to sate him more than that slow shit ever could, leaving him breathless and feeling like absolute putty rather than just satisfied.

Taako didn’t necessarily only attend gay clubs, after all, gender’s a spectrum homie, and with his androgynous looks, Taako found it was never too hard to find an ideal partner for the night, regardless of what their sexuality may be prior to meeting Taako. All he had to do was pick the object of his desires, throw a few flirty glances and dirty remarks and the contract may as well have been signed.

Tonight, however, was seeming to be a little disappointing. Sure, there were plenty of attractive people around who he was sure would be more than willing to help Taako out, but the elf was looking for something more, and none of these plain Joe’s were meeting that quota. He was receiving glances and smirks but none of them contained the promise to leave him feeling absolutely boneless, all they said to Taako was, ‘Hey, keen for a quickie?’ and that didn’t fit Taako’s whole thing of wanting to go for round after round til the sun rose.

Taako quickly downed his cocktail, discarding it onto the bench before heading towards the dance floor. Despite not having a specific target in mind, it never usually took long for a human to notice his ethereal sort of glow and quickly be drawn into the rhythm that Taako would set for both of them. He enjoyed dancing, and for the most part he enjoyed dancing alone, though that never lasted too long. In all honesty humans didn’t tend to be so compatible with his style, their groping hands restricting his movements and freedom to move rather than heightening his own enjoyment, but it was what it was, the ends justified the means and all that crap. Soon enough, a pair of broad hands were gripping his hips and following his sway, a warm body pressed against his back. Taako rolled his eyes a little at the human’s awkward swaying, but the company was still appreciated and Taako found himself pressing himself further into the sturdy warmth behind him, not even caring to look at the stranger’s face.

After a while, the elf turned his head towards his shoulder, preparing to ask the stranger behind him if they’d like a…more _private_ show, however when he opened his eyes any thought of beginning that sentence flew out of his mind. Across the room, sat in a dark corner of the club and cradling a tumbler with a dark liquid was just the person Taako needed. This new figure was every bit handsome Taako could possibly want from a human. His shoulders were broad, dark skin flawless and accentuating the dazzling colour and sharpness of his eyes with his hair tied back to expose a jaw that had to have been chiseled by the gods, dashed with the perfect amount of stubble. He was dressed in a vest, a dress shirt and pants, with a crimson tie running down his chest, and while this was particularly odd fashion for the type of area the two of them currently found themselves in, Taako couldn’t help but let his mouth water at how tailored the suit was, complimenting his physique and sitting so delectably tight over each of his muscles, as if the seams could burst at any moment to show off the goods Taako currently found himself craving.

Though more so than his physique, it was the energy this human was radiating that was really making his eyes begin to glaze over. It wasn’t necessarily that the man was horny, but that he was searching, like he was on the hunt for something or someone specific, assessing each person in the room to every last detail before moving his gaze to the next, trying to scope out who in the room would be able to be his match. He’d been with other men with this same electrifying vibe, and Taako had to admit that they had always had the most… acquired tastes in the bedroom, and the promise of that always sent a thrum through Taako’s veins.

Taako could feel his partner behind him become more determined in his actions, perhaps dissatisfied with the lack of attention or just bored and wanting to hurry things up, but Taako didn’t particularly pay him any mind, just letting their hips lazily sway as he watched this man hiding in the shadows, waiting to see if this handsome stranger would take the time to assess Taako as well.

Lo and behold, the two locked eyes and Taako felt himself gasp. Having that gaze now turned to him was more intense than he expected, but he’d be lying if he said it hadn’t stirred something from within his pants. Neither broke eye contact, even as Taako was being groped and felt up from behind. Taako wasn’t sure of the man’s kinks (though he was hoping to find out, that was for sure) but an idea came to mind. With a moan, Taako bit his lip and wrapped an arm around his partner’s head, pulling him in towards the column of Taako’s throat as a silent command to ‘get to work’, an order his impatient partner was more than willing to oblige. As Taako began to put on a show, he maintained eye contact, smirking as he noticed the handsome stranger’s interest begin to grow, a glint in his eye and an eyebrow raised. Grabbing his partner’s hand, he slowly guided both their hands down Taako’s body, travelling across his waist at a snail’s pace before finally reaching Taako’s groin, the elf feigning a gasp as he urged his hips to buck into the hand, the movement barely noticeable unless one was looking for it. Taako released his partner’s hand and continued to dance as he looked over the man’s expression, waiting for a signal of sorts. His facial expression itself was not something that could be read, the same stoic expression that he had when Taako first noticed him still sternly across his features. However, the glint in the man’s eyes before he stood up and made his way to the bar was something that Taako definitely didn’t miss.

Taako let out a small giggle before unwrapping himself from the man behind him, “Thanks for the warm up, hot stuff. ‘Cha boy seems to have somewhere to be for the rest of the night though.” And Taako let the finger guns speak for themselves as he abandoned the seemingly _very_ frustrated man.

Taako sauntered his way back over to the bar. The man’s back was turned to him, but the extra sway to his hips and the flirtatious smirk on his lips did wonders for his confidence, regardless of whether anyone was watching or not. As he approached the bar, the bartender pulled a drink from the fridge which made Taako smile. He had become a regular at this point, and the staff were all familiar if not slightly enamoured by him. Sure, they all knew he came here just to find a quick fuck, but they had all had some sort of engagement with Taako over the years and it was hard to not fall in love with his charismatic, if not goofy self. He gave the bartender a wink as he sat down, taking a long, slow slip from the straw of it and making the woman behind the counter laugh and shake her head at him. As much as he did love his interactions with the staff, it wasn’t exactly his primary objective at the moment. Swinging around in his stool to face the man, Taako crossed one leg over the other, staring at him intently as he lazily stirred his cocktail with his straw.

“Haven’t seen you around these parts, handsome,” Taako started, practically purring out the pet name, “What’s a big hunk of meat like yourself doing around a place like this?”

The man was clearly not surprised to have been approached, and despite his face still remaining as controlled and unreadable as ever, Taako noticed the hungry way he was eyeing Taako up, “I’m here for work.” And despite how dismissive and vague the statement was, Taako was surprised by the smooth and polite tone of his voice. Had it not been for how clipped the sentence was and the stone cold expression, Taako could have almost tricked himself into thinking this man had pure intentions and wanted to ‘get to know him’ or some other sappy crap. The soft spoken tone just drove Taako’s desire further, a need to know what this man would sound like with his throat practically torn apart from certain acts now rising in the elf’s chest.

A part of Taako wanted to know more, continue the small talk, but it was clear this guy didn’t want to talk about what his job was. Probably a gang type thing, maybe ‘scouting’. It wasn’t too uncommon in these parts and Taako had learned over the years it was better not to push. It didn’t bother him, small talk wasn’t what he was here for anyway.

“Hmm, all work and no play are we, darling? Tell me, are you one of those types who are so dedicated to their jobs nothing can distract you, or could you perhaps be swayed by a little…persuasion, per se.” Taako batted his eyelashes a little, leaning further into the man in front of him and lowering his voice slightly.

The broad man’s lips quirked, only the slightest, but Taako picked up on it easily enough, especially with how close the distance was between the two of them, “I am highly regarded in my field due to my unrelenting dedication, love.”

Taako sighed. How boring, “I’m going to be brief with you here… What’s your name?”

He seemed to pause for a moment, as if thinking of what to say, like he needed a fake name before answering, “Kravitz.” Taako grimaced a little. That must have been a real name because no way in hell would someone pick that out of a hat. Reminded Taako of some of the dumb names back home, though he supposed he wasn’t in much a place to talk about stupid names.

“Kravitz,” Taako hummed, it didn’t actually sound too bad when rolling off of his lips. He could work with it. Taako placed a hand on Kravitz’s thick, sturdy thigh and began to trace small, wandering circles, “Now forgive me for being presumptuous and quick to the point here, but the whole will-they-won’t-they dance isn’t one I have any interest in. We’re both attractive, and from what I can gather, I believe the two of us may have a few common interests, if you catch my drift. What I’d like to suggest, darling, is that we finish our drinks here, I take you back to mine, you tie me up or whatever it is you kids are into these days and you ram my ass all the way into tomorrow morning like neither of us are going to get a chance to do it again. That sounds like it could be fun, right?” Taako’s smile was bright and chirpy, far too innocent for the filth that just came out of his mouth and Taako couldn’t help but chuckle at how quickly Kravitz’s expression turned from cool and calm to shocked and just straight up adorable.

“That’s, um…” Kravitz laughed a little nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, “That’s awfully forward of you.”

Taako just shrugged, “Cha boy here knows what he wants, and frankly, my dude, despite how much time in the world I have I’m not particularly keen on wasting it if I’m not even going to receive a ‘yes’ at the end it all, ya feel me?”

Kravitz seemed to consider the option before him thoroughly. After Taako had seen that cool demeanour drop a little, the elf began to have his doubts. Maybe one night stands really weren’t his thing, the cute reaction and adorable blush would suggest that. Maybe he was all bark and no bite at the end of it all.

“You haven’t even told me your name yet.”

Taako had to choke back a laugh at that. How cute, he wants to do names and shit. Leaning in further, Taako brushed his lips against the shell of Kravitz’s ear. He wasn’t sure the other man appreciated the forwardness, but the fact that he was considering meant something, right? “Doesn’t matter, my man,” Taako whispered, grinning at the sharp inhale of Kravitz’s breath, and with a squeeze of the thigh and one final, breathy sentence, the deal was sold.

“For the night, all I’ve gotta be is yours.”

 

* * *

 

 

The trip to Taako’s was brief. After Kravitz had nervously nodded his head and exhaled an ‘okay’, everything moved fast from there. Taako had dragged them both outside the club and onto the sidewalk to hail down a cab in the brisk night air. Teasing footsies and thigh touches in the backseat grew into daring gropes and whispers into one another’s ears, promises of what the other had in mind with no respect for the clearly exhausted driver who, unbeknownst to the pair was breaking a number of road rules to kick them out as hastily as possible.

Taako’s apartment door slammed and the elf was pinning Kravitz against the door as quickly as possible, a low hum rumbling from his chest as he admired how strong the other man’s body felt beneath his wandering hands. Taako continued to explore, his mouth travelling down to Kravitz’s neck with gentle nips and a hard suck that elicited a moan from the larger man. However, despite the vocalisation that made Taako’s pride swell a little, he couldn’t help but frown a little. Something was wrong. Kravitz may have been panting and moaning, but when Taako stepped back he noticed how stiff the man was, his eyes flitting around nervously like a feral dog that had just been put in a cage. Man, he really mustn’t be used to this type of thing.

“Everything alright, my man?” Taako said. He had stepped back, giving Kravitz some space, and rubbed his hand comfortingly over the other’s bicep, no ulterior motive behind it. As badly as Taako wanted this, and as hard as it was for him to stop when a practical Greek God was panting before him, he had no intention of doing this with someone unwilling. After all, the name of the game was pleasure, and if that was even laced with the tiniest bit of fear or uncertainty, that energy along with the utter guilt was going to sit pretty badly in Taako’s stomach for a long time, “If you’re not into this we can stop, no questions asked. Hell, if you wanna we can just sit around watching spooky docos and snacking, or if you’d prefer to just go back to work that’s cool too, homie.”

Kravitz exhaled, the tension somewhat dispersing and that composed face reaching his feature’s again, “I’m okay, I just…Do you think I could have a glass of water please?” Kravitz asked politely, his eyes still flitting about the room a little. 

“Yeah, sure thing bro, gotta keep them fluids up,” Taako joked “Make yourself comfy, I’ll be back in a second.” and with that Taako left Kravitz as he sauntered into the kitchen.

When he returned, however, Taako was a little bit surprised by what he saw. Kravitz had his back faced towards him and was currently taking a particular interest in a certain corner of the living room. In Taako’s living room there was a long, oak coffee table, placed deep into a corner near the curtains, hidden to the eye of most visitors. It wasn’t that it was hidden on purpose, but when the curtains were drawn open they covered a large majority of the table, making the furniture a piece that most people’s eyes just jumped over. Perhaps that had been a subconscious choice on Taako’s behalf. The table itself was nothing particularly impressive, but what laid atop it was two of the few belongings that actually held any personal sentiment to the elf. Placed delicately on the table laid Taako’s umbrastaff. He grimaced slightly. He should really say _Lup’s_ umbrastaff, and beside it his stone of farspeech that had remained radio silent since the day he left. Taako didn’t really know why he kept either around. He never used the umbrastaff out of guilt, and the stone didn’t seem to serve any purpose anymore since he was seemingly exiled by his only family. If anything, those two items were just unhappy reminders of his past. Maybe he kept them due to some feeling of hope that was never going to be realised, or perhaps just sentiment, but either way they weren’t particularly items he liked to look upon, let alone have his supposed to be boner pal contemplating.

“Watcha looking at that old thing for?” Taako said smoothly. Kravitz seemed to jump a little, surprised from the intrusion, and for a moment Taako swore he could have seen something else cross his face, though he shrugged it off. He probably just felt guilty for snooping around someone’s house.

“Sorry it just…caught my attention I suppose,” Kravtiz explained, taking the glass of water from Taako, however he did not take a drink from it, “It’s a very interesting design for an umbrella…”

Taako just shrugged his shoulders, placing his chin on top of Kravitz’s shoulder, “Just some family heirloom,” it wasn’t _exactly_ a lie, “Someone gave it to me a while ago and I don’t really now what else to do with it.”

Kravitz hummed a little, his hand stroking the facial hair on his chin as he assessed it. Taako had a hard time deciphering his expression. It almost looked frustrated? Confused? Some odd mix of the both? Either way, it didn’t make a lot of sense. Taako leaned his head upwards, pressing a butterfly light kiss to the corner of Kravitz’s mouth, “I’m gonna be real here buddy, you’re free to walk out of here, but if we’re gonna go to bone town I don’t really wanna be talking about my family, really I don’t want to be talking about anything at all.”

Kravitz sighed a little, almost annoyed, “Sorry, I guess I’m just still in work mode,” He smiled softly at Taako, turning to face the elf and pushing a strand of his hair behind his disguised ears, “How about you go get yourself ready and I’ll take a moment to get my head together.” As Kravitz said this, he let his hands wander slowly to Taako’s ass, giving both cheeks a firm yet tender squeeze that sent a wave of warmth through Taako.

“Hmmm, okay sweet cheeks. Bedroom’s second room on the left, don’t keep me waiting too long yeah?” Taako leaned in to give the taller man a kiss, nibbling gently at his lower lip as he pulled back, and before Taako turned to walk, he gave Kravitz a quick slap on the ass before strutting away with a loud laugh. He heard Kravitz let out a small snort at the action, but made no intention to move. That was fine with Taako, sometimes you just needed a moment to get yourself in the mood, totally understandable.

That being said, Taako definitely didn’t need a moment. He was quick to free himself from his clothes, undoing his braid with a practiced grace and perhaps putting in a little extra effort to ruffle up his hair and give a sex-ready look. Taako whispered a spell into his palm, feeling his fingers become sticky and warm. He could have just used regular lube, but he despised the cold feeling at the beginning, and it’s not like Kravitz was in the room as a witness, so hey, why the hell not? Taako sat himself on his knees and was quick to begin working himself open. He would have preferred Kravitz to be doing it (those fingers had looked mighty thick) but he didn’t mind so much, it just meant they could get to the good part quicker.

It didn’t take long for Taako to reach into the spot that made his knees weak. He didn’t abuse the nub too hard, just gently pressing against it and sighing as he felt his contented body sink further into the mattress. While he preferred to be be fucked hard and fast, he didn’t want to get too deep into it before his partner was even in the room, so slow and languid it was. The tip of his dick was now gently brushing against the sheets below him and Taako couldn’t help but let out a breathy moan at the sensation, a thought quickly running through his head that perhaps some over-produced moans might tempt his soon to be lover into the room.

However, when he felt a warm hand press against the base of the spine, he smiled knowing he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. He giggled a little as he removed his fingers, surprised by the fact that Kravitz was still seemingly interested in a bit of foreplay, with the way his hand was slowly trailing and kneading up his spine. From Taako’s position on his knees, he couldn’t see a lot from behind him, but he pouted when he noticed Kravitz’s lower half was still very much clothed.

“I assumed taking off your clothes may have been part of collecting yourself, darling.” Taako stated. He had tried to make his tone disappointed but the slow sigh that escaped his mouth when Kravitz put pressure on a particular pressure point on his back betrayed him. As nice as the sensation was, Taako was beginning to grow impatient. He shuffled his hips a little, trying to send the message that he was very much ready to go right now. Any thoughts of Kravitz being vanilla were taken away when he lightly wrapped his broad hand around the back of his neck.

He wasn’t choking Taako. From the back, he didn’t exactly have access to the elf’s windpipe, and the pressure wouldn’t have been enough to asphyxiate him, but the pressure was certainly still there, persistent and a reminder of who was going to be in control. Kravitz pushed Taako’s face a little further into the mattress, but what came next was far from what Taako could have even dreamed of.

It started off as just excessive warmth coming from Kravitz’s hand. Comforting, but not really enough to raise alarm bells or turn him on. Then came a tingle that seemed to travel down Taako’s spine and make him wriggle his toes. The sensation built, Taako feeling warmth flood his body as he began to pant. A brief moment of fear crossed his thoughts, knowing that as a human, Kravtiz should _not_ be able to do this and if he was doing it without consent, something was definitely worth worrying about, but the tingles moved to full blown vibrations that seemed to wrack through every muscle in Taako’s body. He was panting, scared and unsure of what kind of spell this was that was making his entire body shake within, but whatever it was felt fucking fantastic on his already hard dick that he was too distracted to think. He wanted it to stop, so he could talk to Kravitz about this, maybe even consider that he was using _magic_ , but all he could do was feel the sensations roll over him. His gut seemed to clench and relax at an unnatural pace, a bead of precum quickly forming on his tip. It was too much and too fast, but god ,Taako wasn’t complaining. He could feel his body tensing, wanting to be touched somewhere else, _anywhere_ else to push him over that edge that was so, so close, but he couldn’t even beg, couldn’t form words in his mind let alone speak them. All Taako could do was pant and moan and cry out, hoping Kravitz would get the message that despite how fast this was happening, he _needed_ a hand on him.

And then it stopped. Taako felt boneless, splayed out across from the bed, still hard and needy and craving more of whatever the hell that had been, though perhaps that hand somewhere else this time might be better.

“What the fuck was that…”

“What the fuck are you?”

They both said it at the same time, Taako’s voice a lot more breathier and happy sounding than the fear and confusion Kravitz was expressing.

Taako began to lift himself up to turn around “Babe, I haven’t had someone else’s magic used on me in decades, give cha boy a warning…” but his sentence was quickly cut off when he saw what was before him.

Kravitz was on the other side of the room, fear filling his eyes and much to Taako’s confusion, a dagger in his hand. The hilt was recognisable to Taako, covered in symbols of days long gone and used by clerics and priests for exorcism rites, symbols Taako had only seen in books back home. Taako’s eyes widened, the haze that had originally been filling them quickly fading as the glint of the blade shone clarity straight into Taako’s mind. He didn’t move however. Whilst Taako was most certainly afraid, he was also an incredibly competent wizard, and with his current excess reserves of magical energy, he knew he could win a fight. Instead, Taako simply adjusted the sheets to cover himself, his body shrinking a little in embarrassment. He tucked a hair behind his ear and that’s when he felt it; his ears weren’t disguised. They were long and pointed and poking far out from beneath his thick hair. Taako clamped his hands quickly over his ears, feeling even more exposed than when he had his naked ass pointed at the roof. No one had seen his ears in years, no one was meant to and there was no way Taako’s spell had worn off, he was always methodical with his timing, strict to ensure he was never seen, and if the spell hadn’t worn off then that meant…

It had been removed.

“You’re not a demon.” Kravitz stated plainly, breath hitching and his eyes flitting around confused as he tried to add the pieces together.

“No, but I’d say with your horrendous manners you fall somewhere into a similar category.” Taako spat out, venom lacing his voice.

“If you’re not a demon then,” Kravitz started, his brain failing to comprehend what was in front of him “Then I don’t know what you are, and that means I’m completely unprepared for this.”

“Since this seems to involve my deepest secret in this world, I hope you don’t mind me asking such an invasive and personal question but… what the ever loving _fuck_ is _this_ exactly?” Taako pointed at the knife, one of his ears now popping free.

Kravitz swallowed nervously, trying to figure out what to tell the creature before him, “I’m… I’m a hunter....no, investigator is probably more accurate... it...doesn’t really matter,” Kravitz began, probably too shell shocked to even think about forming a lie that would save his ass as he stuttered through details that could very well lead to his own demise. Taako could feel his blood boiling, whether in fear or anger he wasn’t sure but he knew it was growing hot and thick in his veins, “A succubus was reported to the Raven’s, I was sent to take it out but that’s…that can’t be you…”

Taako scoffed, “A fucking succubus? Really? A guy with a bit of magic proficiency can’t enjoy a bit of rough sex? I deserve to be god damn KILLED just because I’m a pretty boy who has a few things he likes to explore? _Are you for fucking real? I’m multi fucking dimensional_ , that succubus crap hasn’t got shit on me!” Taako was yelling at this point and not bothering to cover his ears as his arms flailed wildly, his anger getting the best of him, and at this point he hadn’t even realised that with a dramatic flick of his wrist he’d unwillingly cast a spell.

Kravitz remained silent, looking between Taako’s ears and anywhere that didn’t mean making eye contact, “What are you?” he asked, gripping the dagger slightly tighter. Taako rolled his eyes at what was meant to be a threatening move.

“None of your business anymore, fuck knuckle,” And with the bitter spit of those words, a half a dozen thick, black tentacles sprung from beneath the bed Taako was huddled on. Taako should have cared, he should have settled them down, but he was too intent at glaring at the man before him, trying to intimidate him into leaving.

Kravitz’s eyes darted with fear as the tentacles wriggled upwards. They weren’t attacking or at this point even threatening to attack. They were simply waiting for a command, but to a human whose knowledge of the supernatural only relied on a minimal amount of species mostly from modern religions, the sight was unknown and horrifying nonetheless.

“You know,” Taako let out a bittersweet laugh, “If you had known I was magic from the start, we could have had a very different kind of fun with these bad boys if you catch my drift,” Taako gave one of the tentacles a gentle pat and it responded by wriggling happily, “But you, my dude, hot bod and all, ain’t ever going to get a chance to star in Taako’s Tent Porn, and I strongly suggest you leave before I let them decide on their own fun. They’re not as generous or thoughtful as I am, my dear Kravitz.”

Kravitz swallowed hard. He inhaled deeply before slowly lowering his dagger to the floor, then making eye contact with a furious, huddled over Taako who was trying to cover his bare body in whatever way he could, “If you’re not a demon then you’re of no threat to this world or humanity, nor do I have any need or jurisdiction to harm you, but please,” Kravitz had a pleading look in his eyes as he held his hands out in front of himself, “Please tell me what you are.”

Taako huffed out a breath of air, “I’m a being just like you, trying to live a peaceful fucking life. Now leave, and don’t come back!” Taako yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Kravitz. The intruder yelped when a tentacle snuck its way around his waist, quickly forcing him out the door and landing him heavily on his ass in the complex’s hallway. Before slamming the door shut, the tentacle slapped Kravitz right across the face with enough force to knock him fully to the ground.

Taako sighed. He could hear heavy knocking on his apartment’s door but with a flick of his wrist he cast silence on everything outside his own bedroom. He splayed himself across his bed, hands covering his face in shame as the tentacles began to tuck him into bed, rebraiding his hair. One tapped his shoulder to gain his attention.

“What’s up buddy?” Taako choked out, removing his hands from his face with a sniffle. The tentacle pointed unceremoniously to his still hard dick, as if trying to offer a hand, “Nah, not today, Taako’s not really in the mood anymore, but thanks bro.” The elf rolled onto his side and let the tentacles continue to take care of him. One planted what would have been compared to a mother’s kiss onto his forehead before the six appendages poofed away into a black smoke.

He didn’t know if Kravitz was still knocking on the door, and he didn’t want to know either. At least the protection runes must have been working if the door hadn’t been kicked in yet. Taako sighed. Sure, he was angry and scared to start with, as far as he knew even the more knowledgeable humans were not aware of the existence of elves, and now that a group of hunter’s potentially could put the pieces together? Not good. Definitely not good at all. But above all that, Taako just felt embarrassed. Kravitz had thought he was a succubus, and honestly? Was what he was doing all that different to that particular sect of demons? The sex wasn’t all about the energy, he had enough as it was! Let a man enjoy some kinky shit once in a while, okay? But he couldn’t deny the fact that it was the reason he started doing it in the first place…

But another insecurity was chewing at him a lot deeper, one that he had buried since he had left New Elfington. It had always been there but Taako had never given it a chance to surface, never had to worry about it becoming a legitimate concern. Taako condensed his body, forcing himself into a tight ball in his now cold and lonely bed, tears rolling down his face silently as the thoughts rushed over him.

If anyone in this world were to discover who he was, he truly wouldn’t have a soul left in the world. He’d be abandoned.

Again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

As Taako laid restless in bed with these thoughts plaguing every inch of his brain, a small hint of activity came from the living room, where Silence was still active.

From atop an oak coffee table, a quick burst of static sounded from one, unassuming stone before connection was dropped entirely once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is where I plug my Twitter?? Idk it’s _axxie_ I don’t rlly post stuff about my own writing but if y’all wanna listen to me whine and eventually post wips of my taako cosplay when I get my materials and shit that’s what it is lmao


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz returns
> 
> Taako gets angry
> 
> Magnus rushes in
> 
> Kravitz isn't the only one keeping an eye on Taako

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's probably!!! a lot of spelling and grammar!!!! bads!!! I did a read through of chapter one the other day and almost vommed over how many errors but tbh, I write chapters over one full day and my brains usually fried when i do the proofread and I miss a lot of stuff. Apologies if you're one of the first few who read this while it's allmessed up; i just get EXCITED to post and don't think about the fact i ought to wait 24 hours to proofread before posting sooooooo SOWWY!!!! It should hopefully all be good in a couple of days when my brain is less mush!!!! I just get too excited to share my ideas!!!

When Taako awoke early the next morning, he couldn't help but grimace at the dry feeling in his throat. As much as he hated to reflect on it, spending the night crying until your body eventually passed out was not a particularly wondrous health or beauty regime, and not one he'd partaken in for quite some time. He quickly sculled a glass of water to try rehydrate to a degree and then cast a quick charm on himself to cover some of the more physical effects. Casting charms was a regular part of Taako's routine, usually to cover his ears or just some bruises from a night well spent, but today's targets were out of the ordinary. He covered the redness of his eyes, added some more colour to his now dull skin and even tweaked his lips slightly to upturn into his signature smirk, as he doubted many genuine smiles would be flitting across his features that day. Other than the drained look in his eyes, Taako looked as good as usual. However, a charm only affected the surface level, and the dehydration and unnamed, empty feeling deep in his stomach lingered. 

He sighed, tucking his loose hair behind his now short ears before moving towards the fridge. He couldn't be bothered to cook anything that morning, too tired, and opted for a swig of juice straight from the carton. It wasn't pleasant, but whatever, as long as it gave him enough energy to make it to the cafe, then that's what counted. 

Despite the daily effort Taako put into his appearance, the same could not be said about his apartment that was comfortably out of view from the public eye. Clothes were strewn across the floor or wherever else they would inevitably find themselves, dishes were left in the sink, the bins filled a little too close to the brim and the bathroom was littered with half empty bottles that laid unused for months. Running a business was by no means easy, and with the long hours of each working day, menial tasks like cleaning just seemed unimportant. It's not as though any of his 'overnight guests' seemed to notice or mind, and he wasn't one to open his doors for any other real reason, even with his closest friends. 

Taako always had had trouble with letting people in to see his messes. 

The elf quickly whipped together a basic outfit that didn't require much thought but still flattered him before heading out the door and facing the bitter wind of the city. Winter was coming upon Goldcliff and while Taako's blood ran warmer than most, he couldn't help but shiver a little in the early mornings on his commute to work. He was glad he wasn't too long of a walk away from his workplace on mornings where he had to leave as the sun was just barely beginning to poke through the horizon.

When he arrived, Angus was already waiting beside the back door, shivering and blowing warm puffs of air into his palms to try create some warmth. Taako couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't get why Angus always insisted on arriving 15 minutes early wherever he went, especially so early in the morning, but it was a habit Taako had long given up on questioning.  When the younger boy noticed Taako approaching he beamed, offering a bright wave to the taller man. 

"Good morning, sir!" Angus cheered, hopping from foot to foot slightly to keep producing warmth. Taako only smiled in response, swinging the keys around his finger before unlocking the back door. Taako prided himself on his perception, though he'd be a fool to think he was the only one who was proficient in that skill. While it would have been imperceptible to most, Taako couldn't help but notice the brief twitch in Angus' eye as he scanned the elf's face, immediately noticing something wasn't quite right even if he couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Taako was glad that Angus at least had the manners to not grill him on what was wrong. 

The two got to work pretty quickly after that, a silent agreement of sorts blanketing the two that stated conversation wasn't particularly wanted that morning, and Taako was grateful. That morning, all Taako wanted to do was lose himself in the kitchen for a while and busy himself so much so that he didn't even have time for his thoughts to settle more than they had already. If Taako kept his hands busy, then he knew his mind would follow. 

He didn't exactly know what it was that he was making, his brain just pulling something from his repertoire at random and his hands following on instinct with practiced ease. It didn't matter what he was making either. Someone would eat it and they'd enjoy the shit out of it, and right now Taako was just enjoying the art of creating.  _This_ was his happy place.  _This_ was his home, and he'd be damned if anything was going to ruin that. 

Taako was happily lost in his own head, the tension leaving his body with each sizzle and crack that the hotplate in his hands sounded. However, had he not been so distracted, he may have noticed a few odd happenings from outside the kitchen.

The store wasn't scheduled to open for another half hour; Morning preparations consisted of preliminary cooking and Angus setting cutlery and cashing in the tills. At this time in the morning, most of the front lights were kept turned off in order to provide the image that no, they were not open, come back later please. Despite this, Angus unlocked the door fairly early so that he could move a few tables from inside to outside, water the plants and setup the chalkboard. Occasionally a couple of customers would ask Angus while he was outside if they were open yet, but usually nothing more than that. With the light's turned off,  _Paloma's Brew_ appeared well and truly closed, and most customers respected that.

Had Taako not been so lost in his thoughts, he would have noticed the following:

1\. The ringing of the bell above the door

2\. Angus explaining loud and clear that they were not currently open 

3\. How the voices beyond the kitchen hushed into a more conversational tone rather than professional, and how it lasted much longer than a 'we will be open in half an hour' should have. 

The only thing Taako picked up on was that the meal before him looked fucking delicious.

"Angus!" Taako called happily, brushing his hands on his apron as he looked upon the now plated dish. A 'Taako take' on the old bubble n squeak, "Come taste this and tell me if it's worth going on the menu. I mean, of course it is, but tell me how good it is anyway." He smiled at the young man who was slowly pushing the door to the kitchen, however his expression dropped fairly fast when he noticed Angus looked...sheepish? "What's up, Ango?"

Angus immediately perked up, "Nothing really, sir!" he stammered, "There's just someone here to see you, and I didn't want to interrupt you while you were cooking." A wise choice, really. Taako knew he would have been snappy if he'd been interrupted, though that wasn't the part that interested the chef.

His head tilted curiously, "To see me? We aren't even open yet, Angus."

"I know, I'm sorry I know I should have kicked him out, but..." Angus thought for a while about how to word his next sentence, "He seemed kind of...insistent, and said he'd wait outside anyway. I figured since he wasn't ordering it wouldn't be too much of an issue to let him wait inside."

Taako sighed a little. Damn kid, being well mannered even though he  _knows_ Taako doesn't like anyone around before they open. Hell, he didn't even let the owner of the building in to discuss business until after they opened.

"Alright, well you eat this and I'll be a little firmer with them then." Taako rolled his eyes a little which made Angus blush in embarrassment. 

Taako walked out of the kitchen lazily and with a huff. Under normal circumstances he would have made the effort to hide any annoyance behind a large smile and pull out his customer service voice, but god damn it, they weren't even open. This was someone stepping into Taako's personal, customer free time and he had no intention of hiding his disgruntlement. 

"Sir, Im going to have to ask you to come back la-" Taako's voice stopped in his throat, his eyes turned bug eyed and watery as he saw the figure in front of him. By the far wall of the shop and hidden in the dim of the unlit cafe was a broad and looming figure, admiring the trinkets that littered a high shelf. There, dressed in a full suit and waistcoat with half his hair drawn back stood the seemingly shy figure of Kravitz himself.

Taako swallowed, any words he had dying on his tongue as a fear started to flood him. Kravitz looked different in the morning. While last night he had been all attitude and filthy glances, Taako now noticed the other side of Kravitz he'd only seen quick glimpses of in his own home; despite the man's large figure, his shoulders were hunched as if he was trying to hide away his enormous form. He had a slight blush, his eyes down turned and feet shuffling nervously on the floor in front of Taako. In any other situation, Taako would have found such a meek display on a traditionally intimidating figure almost...cute.

But this wasn't a different scenario.

"Get out." The elf spat, and Kravitz seemed hurt, but not surprised by this reaction. 

"I wanted to apologise..."

"I don't care. This is a private business and I'm telling you to leave." His shaking finger was pointing towards the door, arm tense and feeling like it was about to fall off with the amount of pressure in his blood.

Kravitz sighed, a little dejected, "I can't...That's what I need to talk to you about." 

"I don't. Fucking. Care." By this point, the tears were threatening to spill from his eyes. Taako was doing everything he could to keep them in, but fear and shame and embarrassment made such efforts difficult. Taako didn't know what Kravitz was here for, didn't know how he knew where to come either, but the fact he was able to gather such intel without even knowing a name meant that whoever he _was_ with meant business, and that was terrifying. He didn't even know if he could use magic to defend himself at this point. Angus was no doubt listening from the kitchen and the streets were starting to fill with commuters (though few), and as much as using magic meant potentially saving his life, exposing it could mean endangering  _everything._ He didn't really give a shit about what would happen to the magical world itself if it was discovered, but he did care about preserving one thing.

Lulu. 

So instead, Taako just stood his ground, pointing at the door and hoping the man in front of him would be somewhat intimidated by his shaking form. It was unlikely, he was well aware of that, but it was the only thing he could do.

Kravitz cleared his throat, any hint of apology or empathy leaving his eyes as he slipped into a more professional persona, "The Raven has decided that while you are not a threat, you need be monitored," Kravitz begun and Taako couldn't help but wince. He was going to be some fucking test subject, "I've been assigned your case. I will leave the premises if that is your wish, however I thought making you aware and perhaps... _trying_ to make this an amicable scenario would have been mutually beneficial, however I fully understand your wariness of my intentions."

Taako ground his teeth, glaring even harder at the man, "Get the fuck out of my store. Now." And with that Taako cast Fire Shield, not caring if anyone saw. He doubted anyone would, the spell only consisted of fine whips of fire, but it was still something Taako should have been cautious of. It wasn't particularly harmful, and Taako had no intention of using it offensively, but he knew it was intimidating to look at. Seeing someone wrapped and covered in wisps of fire was confusing to a human, and not too dissimilar to movie interpretations of people being overwhelmed by power. However, unlike last night, Kravitz didn't appear to be scared. Surprised, sure, but he seemed much more prepared for the unexpected. 

With a calm nod of his head, Kravitz headed towards the front door, "I'll be sitting across the street," He began, stopping when he heard Taako click his tongue in frustration, "This situation is no more pleasant for me than it is for you, but...I do want you to know that no harm is going to come your way. Myself and Raven are both only interested in intel. If you have further questions, then you know where to find me. I'd be more than happy to hasten this case for both of us with _civil_ conversation."

And with that Kravitz was gone. Taako didn't care that the door was glass and there was nothing stopping Kravitz from just looking through the window and laughing at Taako's shame; as soon as the door swung to a close, Taako dropped to his knees. The spell dropped almost immediately, and so did all of his effort to keep his emotions in check, the tears spilling out. He wasn't sobbing per se, but forcing them to not spill for as long as he had lead to a steady stream now releasing itself. And so he sat, staring at the floor as he tried to process what was happening.

The elders had told stories of humans conducting experiments, and whether such tests were invasive or not, Taako now found that that was his reality. He was a test mouse and his puzzle to navigate was his own daily life while Kravitz would stare from above, looming and imposing as he judged and took note of every action. How was he supposed to live like that? how was he supposed to believe this wouldn't lead to his death the minute he got the information he needed? Kravitz had been willing to kill him for less last night, there was no doubt that he'd be disposed of once whoever this Raven was decided they had enough. 

He sniffled. His only choice was to run. But where to? He had nowhere to go, his whole life and source of energy was set in Goldcliff, and he didn't know a soul outside of it. He was banished from New Elfington and now he was doomed in Goldcliff. Even if he did run, who knew how far this organisation was spread out. He'd be running for the rest of his life, and without some degree of residence to gather energy, he may as well be a dead man walking.

Taako was at a complete loss.

Taako lifted his gaze to look out the window of the store. Of course, Kravitz was there, sat idly at a bench across the street that faced the cafe. He was focusing on a laptop, probably writing an email to whoever the fuck Raven is to detail how emotionally pathetic Taako had been. Taako's eye twitched a little in anger. This asshole really was just going to sit across the road all day. For however many days it took. Hell, he might even follow Taako home. Maybe Taako could exhaust him. Humans needed more rest than Taako did, so maybe he could keep busy until Kravitz eventually had to sleep, then he could take the opportunity to pack up his things and run to...

To where?

The elf cursed under his breath, pissed that this was going to be a cycle with no clear answer or escape.

"Sir?" Taako blinked his eyes quickly, strengthening his disguise to cover even more damage caused by the fucker across the street.

"Yeah Ango, how'd the bubble taste, bubeleh?" Taako stood to his feet quickly, his expression returning to charismatic and glowing as quick as possible. He didn't need to worry Angus. That kid was busy enough, and also too smart for his own good. If Taako let on anymore than what the kid had already overheard, who knew when those dumb detective instincts would push him to start investigating.

He knew Angus could see straight through the facade, he just hoped it was enough to keep the situation vague.

"It was great, Taako, definitely going to be a hit if you choose to serve it! Sir, I don't mean to intrude but..." Angus looked between his feet and Taako, nervously judging what the best approach may be. The kid smiled gently, looking up at his boss with kind eyes, "Do you want me to give Mister Magnus a call?"

Taako smiled at that. Count on the kid to know when to back off a bit  _and_ have a good idea.

"Nah, the old lug is probably still sleeping, I'll deal with the grumpy bear myself." He ruffled Angus' hair gently before sliding back into the kitchen, a sign that the conversation was over and it was back to work. Taako pulled out his phone gingerly. He knew for a fact Magnus was still sleeping, it was still early after all. But he also knew that Magnus never had his phone on silent, always willing to help a friend over his own basic, human needs.

 

**To: Magnus**

_hey big fella, u ok to hang by the shop today?_

 

It only took a few minutes to receive a reply:

 

**From: Magnus**

_be there in 10. ex again?_

 

**To: Magnus** _  
_

_something like that_

 

**From: Magnus**

_ok. do i need to throw fists or just do the protective act?_

 

Taako sighed, and while he couldn't see Kravitz from behind the closed kitchen door, he contemplated as though he was staring straight at the man. He had no reason to trust the stranger, and hell, he didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. But...Taako had the impression he didn't pose a physical threat. His organisation? Maybe, but Taako's mind thought back to the night before, how unprepared and scared Kravitz had been. Taako doubted the man had an clue how to hurt him, assuming he wanted to in the first place.

 

**To: Magnus**

_not sure yet. i'll fill you in, but i think you just being here will do. might even get some free labour from you, you know how much the customers love youuuuuu_

 

**From: Magnus**

_> :(_

 

**From: Magnus** _  
_

_at least give me some of those cookies to take home_

 

Taako smiled happily. He was glad to have such a selfless friend in his life, even though Magnus  _knew_ Taako was keeping secrets. For some reason, he still trusted and cared for Taako unconditionally. Though, Taako doubted that love would last if the human knew, even if Magnus did say he'd be there 'no matter what'...

 

**To: Magnus**

_that belly you've been growing tells me you probably don't need anymore, buddy_

 

**To: Magnus**

_i'll get a start_

 

**From: Magnus** _  
_

_:D_

* * *

 

 

An Uber pulled up outside the cafe after 12 minutes, Taako already waiting by the front door with a coffee in hand. The old lug insisted on taking it black but the amount of sugar Magnus forced into his coffee to make it bearable for his taste buds was laughable, and Taako knew that when he turned his back, Magnus would gingerly lift the lid of his cup, steal some milk from over the counter and swiftly pour it in.

As the broad man sleepily pulled himself from the front seat of the car, Taako was running through his mind which quip to use. Make fun of his looks? Call him a sap for coming? So many options! However, before he could decide on one, he was interrupted by Magnus rushing in to wrap him in a warm embrace. Taako squeaked a little in shock, his arms not wrapping around Magnus in response and more just lifted to his sides to hold the coffee cup straight. The store was open at this point and one or two customers were milling around inside the store, and such a display of affection so early seemed entirely inappropriate at his place of work.

The pretence was quickly dropped however, and Taako let his arms relax. He still didn't allow himself to return the hug, but he did let his body melt into Magnus' warmth, sighing slightly as he nuzzled into the broader man's chest.

"Sorry for waking you up." Taako muttered, not making an attempt to pull back from the hug. As much as he avoided physical contact and displays of affection, he needed to be held in that moment.

Magnus chuckled, "Don't apologise, you dingus." And Magnus pulled back to look Taako in the eyes, try to assess the level of damage and figure out what he was dealing with, "Where is he now?"

Taako sighed, his eyes briefly drifting over Magnus' shoulder to glance at Kravitz. The man across the street still had his laptop out, and was now sporting a pair of glasses that matched his attire far too well, however the man's eyes were now trained on Taako and Magnus by the door. Taako didn't like the way Kravitz was looking at them, like they were merely a math problem that could be answered with enough prodding.

Taako shook his head, handing Magnus the cup of coffee, "Not Sazed, I'll tell you in the kitchen." Magnus seemed surprised at that, but followed Taako into the kitchen after sparing a glance to where the elf had previously glanced.  

"Pretty boy on the bench?" Taako just hummed with a nod. He raised an eyebrow to Angus, as if to ask 'you good alone for a bit?' and Angus just offered a thumbs up.

This wasn't the first time people with not great intentions had loitered around  _Paloma's Brew_ , and Taako doubted it would be the last. Sometimes it was a one night stand, sometimes a customer who had become infatuated. 

More often it was Sazed, though thankfully he hadn't shown up since Magnus' last run in with him.

The door closed behind the pair and Taako went straight back into his cooking. It was only a matter of time before a customer ordered a toastie or some other basic item and Taako still had to make a few wraps and sandwiches for the front fridge. Magnus leaned against a counter, eyeing Taako off quizzically.

"Business dudes aren't usually your type." Magnus started, figuring that was a better place to start as opposed to just jumping straight into the issue.

Taako laughed humourlessly, "Guess it didn't seem like business last night." Magnus raised an eyebrow, asking for more information but not pushing it either, "It's not like the usual this time, Maggie. He's..." Taako bit his tongue, making sure to choose the right words that wouldn't expose him, "He's a private investigator or something."

Magnus choked a little at that, eyes blown wide as he stared at Taako in shock, "What the hell, Taako?"

"He's investigating me I guess," Taako shrugged, eyes turned down at the food in front of him.

"You're not...you haven't done anything right? You're not in trouble, are you?" Taako couldn't help but wince a little. No, he hadn't done anything. This is just what he got for being alive in the first place. It was disgusting really, that just being a living, breathing being lead him here, and yet it was unsurprising. That fact alone was depressing in itself.

The elf tied his hair back with a huff, "I don't really know." He knew Magnus could tell he was holding out. Magnus always knew, and he also knew Magnus was growing tired of the whole keeping secrets shenanigan. As well as the pair got along, they were complete opposites. Magnus was an open book; he wore his heart on his sleeve and said everything that was on his mind the moment it came up. To him, the way for him to live life the fullest was to be truly and unapologetically honest with not only others, but also himself. It made sense that Taako's reluctance frustrated him. In Magnus' mind, nothing was too big or scary that could not be forgiven, but Magnus didn't know half of what the world had to offer, now did he?

Despite his clear frustrations, he never pushed Taako's boundaries. Perhaps he was still hoping after so many years that with patience and love and care, Taako would come to open up on his own terms. It was a lovely thought, even if it was convoluted. 

"Do you know how long he's going to be around?" Magnus asked, assuming it was probably the safest question.

Taako just shrugged, "Probably a long time," Taako responded, his own heart sinking as the reality hit him. It was clear that Kravitz wasn't looking for specific information, just that he was told to take notes or whatever until something became clear to either him or his employer. However, Taako's lifestyle was nothing but human. Kravitz would very likely be asked to keep at this for months, if not years, in the hopes of getting  _something_. Taako slumped over the counter in front of him, "He said no one plans on hurting me but...I just...Maggie, I'm so  _scared_ , ch'boy doesn't know what the fuck to do. I barely even know what he's looking for."

Magnus had him in an embrace again almost immediately, his chin placed on Taako's shoulder and chest pressed to his back, "It's alright, we'll work it out." And Taako wished he could believe that, he really, truly did.

But as built as Magnus was, how was a human supposed to go against a magic-wielding, supernatural-being hunting organisation?

 

* * *

 

 

The three worked into the night. Magnus said he didn't have anywhere to be (a lie), and Angus happily took on the extra hours when Brody called in 'sick' (hungover). They probably didn't need three staff on past two o'clock, but as willing to help as Magnus was, he really wasn't very adept at cooking or brewing drinks. The thought still made Taako happy, and the company Magnus provided was appreciated. 

Kravitz didn't leave. Not to eat, or use the bathroom or even charge his laptop. At some point, Kravitz put the laptop away, presumably for battery conservation, before pulling out his phone and continuing with whatever it was he had been doing all day. Taako couldn't help but laugh at the pointed looks Magnus insisted on throwing his way; despite the sheer size of Magnus, the elf assumed Kravitz was well versed in fighting, and hence wasn't even remotely affected by the attempts at intimidation. As the three were cleaning up shop for the day, the sun now low and the chill of the coming winter settling in once more, Angus took the opportunity to talk.

"Sir, you're... you're not involved in,  _anything,_ are you?" Angus asked, nervousness flitting over his eyes. Magnus pretended to not be eavesdropping, but Taako noticed the way his sweeping became quieter and a little slower.

"Not this time buddy, America's favourite chef is clean as a slate." Taako grinned, continuing to wipe down the counter.

"Well, forgive me if this isn't a great idea, since I don't know the full extent of the details," Angus begun, sliding his glasses further up his nose, "Would it not be easier to just talk to him?" Taako could feel his cheeks going red with anger, and it was clear Angus caught on too, "I just mean... if there's nothing wrong, it means he would probably leave a lot earlier, get out of your hair and it'd be a lot easier for you? And while I'm sure you know him better than I, sir, I happened to find him quite pleasant, and sitting in the cold all day must be awfully uncomfortable for him."

Magnus coughed loudly, signalling Angus to drop the topic. Was Angus... Taking Kravitz's side? How  _dare_ he! Taako had employed him for  _two years_ now and shown him nothing but kindness, but one tall, dark and handsome man with some degree of manners walks in and not only does the boy  _not kick him out_ , he grows  _fond_ of him too?!

"Hey Angus, maybe we should clean the kitchen?" Magnus said, already pushing Angus gently into the kitchen, however the smaller boy showed no protest after seeing the look on Taako's face.

Taako sighed. It wasn't really Angus' fault. He didn't know better, and in any other scenario that would have been perfectly sound logic. But the fact was, Angus  _didn't_ know. The kid had no idea that Kravitz's investigation was basically ancient prejudice, or fear, since he supposed Kravitz didn't even know his race at this point. It would be so easy to be able to just talk to Kravitz but he  _couldn't_.

As it was, the fact Kravitz didn't know his race was probably the only thing keeping him alive. After all, once Kravitz got the answers he needed, there wouldn't be any need for him to keep Taako alive. He'd be seen as a threat, just as elves and all the magical races had been seen millennia ago and Taako would be tortured and probably killed on a slab.

But was that really Kravitz's job?

Taako looked through the window of the store to observe Kravitz, still sitting in the same position he had all day, though his jacket was pulled slightly tighter across him. The elf decided a quick test might help. Last night, the dagger Kravitz had held was imbued with magic so, If Kravitz really did have no intention to kill him, then there'd be no need to be carrying any other magical weapons, right?

"Didn't expect to be using this ever again..." Taako grumbled, before discretely casting detect magic. His vision blurred and went monochrome, shapes and silhouettes appearing not too dissimilar to what they would look like on a thermal camera. Kravitz's form just looked like a grey blob, but he knew it was the man since he'd been staring at him before casting the spell. He looked around a little, between his form and the bag by his feet and found...

Nothing.

No glowing hotspots, not even a small hint of a glowing thread. Kravitz had nothing magical on him. Sure, the man could still have been carrying an assortment of other weapons, but he didn't seem like the type to bring a gun to a high powered wizard fight. If he  _had_ come for a fight, then Taako would have guessed the man would have been packing a militia of magical weaponry, crossing his fingers that at least one would work.

Taako huffed. So Kravitz was clear, at least for tonight. But that didn't answer anything about his organisation at all. The elf closed his eyes, allowing the spell to fade before opening his eyes again, though now he was met with a pair of eyes from across the road staring straight back at him. They were curious, and Taako wondered how long Kravitz had been staring at him, if he'd pieced together that Taako had cast a spell. He wondered how perceptive Kravitz really was.

The elf just threw the cloth into a nearby sink, turning on his heel towards the kitchen and turning off the front lights behind him, "You two nerds ready to head off?"

"Yeah, I think we're about done in here," Magnus said, a fond smile on his face as he gave Angus a frankly too rough pat to the back, though Angus didn't seem to mind, "You need to make any stops on the way home?" Magnus asked, resting the broom against the wall. Taako smiled, happy that Magnus didn't even ask if Taako wanted to be walked home, didn't even give Taako the chance to deny wanting any help. Really, he didn't _need_ help. Including magic, Taako was probably far stronger than Magnus, and the elf was hardly any damsel in distress. But knowing he wasn't alone and that he had someone to rely on if need be, well...he needed that comfort.

"Just one, my dude."

Taako locked up quickly and the three headed from the back of the store back to the main street.

"I'll see you tomorrow, sir!" Angus called with a wave before hopping down the street, walking the opposite direction from where Taako's home was.

"Hey, Maggie?" Taako started, "Just wait here okay? I'm gonna have a word." Magnus raised an eyebrow at Taako, questioning if that was a good idea, but Taako just buped his shoulder, a warm smile on his face, "Taako's all good out here, homie, promise."

And before Magnus could make a retort, Taako was already crossing the road. Kravitz had begun to pack up his things when he had seen the three across the road and heading home. Taako didn't know if he had intended to follow him home or if Kravitz planned on returning to his own home, but it didn't really matter. Taako stopped in front of Kravitz, arms crossed over his chest and hip popped a little. 

"I didn't expect to talk to you tonight...?" Kravitz begun.

"Don't act like you don't know my name already, we can skip the introduction." Taako scoffed.

"Of course," Kravitz seemed to blush a little at that, embarrassed on being called out so easily, "Is there anything I ca-"

"Elf." Taako stated simply.

Kravitz appeared dumbfounded at that, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me perfectly, handsome. Elf." Taako couldn't help but smirk a little. It was the first time that day he'd managed to _really_  take Kravitz by surprise, and to be frank he looked like a lost puppy. He liked that look on Kravitz, "I doubt wherever you're from has any records from back in those days, so I guess I don't have to worry too much about offering vague shit like that."

Kravitz cleared his throat, adjusting his tie as he blinked his way through processing the information, "No, we certainly don't have anything in our archives about...elves?"

Taako couldn't help but chuckle a little, "Didn't think so. Listen, bubeleh, waiting out in the cold isn't gonna get you shit, hell, even me straight up giving you a clue hasn't given you shit, right?" Taako smirked, glad to have some degree of power in his field, "You've got your questions, but I have my own fair share to ask before I'm willing to to even  _consider_ talking to you about this crap, got it?"

Kravitz nodded, "Understandable, considering my more... violent approach last night. Your distrust is perfectly justified."

"Good. I don't plan on being buddy buddy with you, or even conversing with you for a while but..." Taako paused, not believing he was about to offer what he was, "You don't have to wait around outside, I guess." Kravitz did look taken aback by the offer, and Taako was already feeling embarrassed by even offering it, "You, at the least, haven't come packing, so I don't think you're gonna kill me anytime soon at least. You can sit around and get zero information from me inside rather than outside. Plus you'll order a meal at some point or another and that means revenue, so whatever."

Kravitz was smiling at that, a warm, big, hearty smile, and Taako felt the heat on his cheeks grow hotter. Why was he even being nice to this guy? Sure he was hot, and Taako supposed he could forgive a guy for just trying to do his job, but he  _did_ try to kill him less than 24 hours ago.

"I would appreciate that very much, Taako." Kravitz said happily.

The wizard huffed, turning on his heel as he headed towards Magnus, but not before throwing one last remark over his shoulder.

"Thank me when you get something on me you can actually use," Taako smirked, "Which I'll tell you now, that ain't gonna happen, fella."

 

* * *

 

A long, dark, stiletto nailed finger reached into the water and gave it a light tap, the glowing liquid below rippling and the images sinking back into the depths below. The water's glow diffused slightly, changing from a brilliant bright light, to the luminescent teal it was while resting. The hand continued to move around the water, the jewels decorating it playing and tangling with the glowing green ribbons of light in the water; visions that had not yet been called upon to be read. Visions that would likely never be called upon.

"Seems like our dear friend is awfully lonely out there, wouldn't you agree?" A soft voice said, a small smirk teetering on the edge of their tone

"Hmmm," A second hooded figure hummed happily, beginning to stand from the edge of the pool of water, "It might be about time to pay our good friends some company, I think. They've been gone an awful while."

The first figure extended their hand, silently asking to be pulled to their feet. The second obliged, though neither made an attempt to let go of each other's hand once they were eye to eye. 

"I do miss them a lot. A change of scenery would be nice too, I think. It's been awfully repetitive around here as of late."

The two continued to whisper and giggle to one another, hands clasped together as they walked away from the pool in the centre of town. Their cloaks dragged along the earth below them, casting a long shadow over what little vegetation in New Elfington remained. One of the figures stepped a heeled boot atop of a small dandelion; a last ditch attempt from some hopeful seed that life could be found in the ruins of what was once a beautiful home. The cloak dragged over the flower, and when it was finally able to face the moon above once again, all that remained was a withered pinch of dust.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh taako talking to kravitz at the end is terribly ooc but the other idea i had to progress their relationship was gonna take a long time/the pacing would be REAL OFF so oh well it's happening this way ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ hope it's okay, I just pushed an assignment out of my ass so my brain's kinda fried but I rlly wanted to write. It's probably more action rather than description which isn't my style but like I said, me sleepy. 
> 
> Feel free to follow me at _axxie_ on twitter!!!!! i only rlly shitpost and complain but it's!!! there!!!! if you'd like!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako's daily work life now features a new addition that perhaps fits in a little more easily than he would have liked.

The heavy, double doors to The Great Hall opened with a sharp creak. Despite the countless times Kravitz had stepped foot into the large space, the fact that the doors opened without any corporeal force to assist never ceased to unsettle him. Before him laid the wide walkway approaching the dais, the area marked by a plush black carpet and lined by tall, looming candlesticks, wax dripping down the length of the poles from centuries of use. It wasn't as though the place was unclean, in fact cleanliness was something his Queen cared deeply about, but there was a certain aesthetic that she did enjoy maintaining.

As the doors closed, the sound echoed throughout the mostly empty room, the candles flaring a little in response to the entrance of a visitor, their whips of light like whispers of gossip to one another as they shone the path to his Queen.

Standard procedure, really.

Kravitz began his well rehearsed walk towards the platform before him. It stood approximately a metre and a half above the height of the ground, with no stairs to allow access. The edges were sharp golden slopes adorned with hundreds of engravings, depicting the beautiful cycle of life and death. The platform itself was plain; a large cube covered in dark curtains that effectively obscured what was inside.

Above him, Kravitz heard the familiar caw of a raven perched atop a rafter, swooping down in front of his face before moving forward and flying into the depths of the curtains, a puff of smoke in its wake as it breached the walls. With a familiar and sudden burst, a bright light burst from within thick curtains, strange, smokey shadows dancing across the surface of the curtains before settling into the humanoid figure he had served for years. Her silhouette ruffled slightly (most likely adjusting her feathers) before relaxing, her hands settling upon the arms of her throne comfortably. Kravitz swiftly dropped to his knee, head lowered in respect as he waited for his Queen to initiate, if she so pleased.

She let out a light giggle, full of warmth and humour despite the environment that surrounded them "How many times must I tell you, my dear Kravitz, that such formality isn't necessary?"

It was true that she had told Kravitz this every time they had encountered for as long as Kravitz could remember existing, and his reply was the same each time. With a smile, Kravitz answered, "Anything less would be a disrespect, My Queen." Before allowing himself to stand to his feet once more.

"What do you have to report to me, Kravitz? You looked awfully tense upon arrival." And while she was simply a silhouette to him, Kravitz could feel the smile in her voice.

He sighed. Despite knowing full well this conversation was a necessity, admitting his confusion over a case as such a seasoned employee was embarrassing nonetheless. With a sharp inhale he begun to explain, "Some intel we received in regards to a recent case has proven to be... vastly incorrect."

"Yes, my child, you did inform me of the rather  _compromising_ position you were placed into on your latest mission," She said with a smirk to her voice, causing Kravtiz' cheeks to flush, "It certainly was far from what we had been informed. Has your stakeout from today provided any fruitful information?"

Kravitz shuffled on his feet, his face frowning as he recalled the days events. For the most part, the subject had proven to be rather ordinary. Sure, his antics were eccentric and some of his habits and mannerisms were odd, but other than the fact that he had no paper or digital trail beyond a few years ago, he appeared to be living the life of just a regular human.

But that had been proven false. 

The subject had dropped a land mine of information at the end of their day, however Kravitz had no idea what to do with said information. It didn't make sense. New creatures didn't just  _appear_. Sometimes they remained dormant for centuries, sure, but The Sect had archives on them all, even if they were outdated. Elves were just plain fiction, old folklore tales now used in roleplaying games and fantasy literature. Yes, it certainly was a huge piece of information, but without any context or further information it was practically useless. It was as helpful as any other word in the dictionary that the subject could have spat out to explain himself. 

"The subject..." Kravitz begun, clearing his throat and unsure of how to approach the next sentence, "He referred to himself as being, well... an elf?" Kravitz paused for a moment, hoping his Queen would offer some piece of knowledge, but when she remained silent he sighed, knowing he would have to explain further, "He approached me at the end of the day and told me that he was an elf, which I suppose would explain the ears, but he seemed to know that telling me this wouldn't really inform me."

The Raven Queen hummed, a clawed nail tapping against the arm of her throne slowly and echoing throughout the hall, "An elf... how peculiar..."

Kravitz remained silent for a moment. He could tell his Queen was deep in thought and needed time to process, however with the booming taps accentuating each moment passed his patience wore thin soon enough, "Forgive my rudeness, My Queen, but from my understanding The Sect has no records of said creatures and I am at an utter loss on what moves I should take, if any. Do you happen to know anything that may assist me?"

The tapping ceased, tailed by one last long and ominous echo throughout the hall. Kravitz could feel her sharp gaze upon him, piercing and searching for something, though both knew there was nothing more to be found. She sighed heavily, standing from her throne and moving towards the back of the dais with her back turned to him as a familiar smoke began to dissipate from her body. 

"Unfortunately I do not, my child," she begun, a tenseness lacing her words, "However, I suspect that with a discovery as... _interesting_ as this, a dear friend of mine may be planning something. Avoid hostility for now, but do try to gather whatever intel you can. As I said, this is a particularly peculiar development, and I don't appreciate being left in the dark about such matters."

Kravitz couldn't help but pout slightly, but gave a courteous nod regardless. While he certainly wasn't surprised by the lack of information, he could still be disappointed, "Of course, My Queen," he stated, bowing deeply as the corporeal form of his Queen began to fade into the same thick whips of smoke she appeared as, "Shall I continue attending to my regular duties as well?"

"No, I would like your full attention on this case. I will ensure your tasks are handled by someone else, though I am sure they will miss having their most accomplished hunter on roster for a while."

Kravitz frowned a little. Call him a workaholic, but Kravitz had spent many years training in his role, perfecting his skills to a fine art that few could come close to achieving. Handing more important missions to his colleagues so Kravitz could attend to an intel mission that really didn't seem to have much risk associated seemed...well, a little below his experience.

"It will be my honour, My Queen." Kravitz said with as much courtesy as he could muster.

And just as the candles began to flicker, her form now nothing more than smoke within the curtains, Kravitz heard one more sentence, as quiet as the wind and swirling around him with the cool breeze in the room. 

"And Kravitz? Enjoy yourself from time to time, too. You could use a change of pace."

Kravitz simply shook his head with a smile. How typical of her.

 

* * *

 

 

The following days were not unpleasant for Taako per se, but the adjustment to having an entirely new and unwelcome presence lingering was definitely awkward to say the least. 

For the first week Kravitz kept his investigation outside the store, most likely out of politeness, and while Taako had initially felt a little huffy over his offer being turned down he also wasn't going to make the guy's life any easier by reiterating that he wasn't going to be kicked out. If Kravitz wanted to shiver away outside then so be it, it made Taako's life easier anyway and he couldn't help but feel a little smug every time he saw the dude shifting uncomfortably each time one of the other nearby employees asked if he needed anything and eyed him off cautiously.

Eventually though, whether it be from the weather continuing to grow cooler or just the awkwardness growing to be too much, Kravitz entered  _Paloma's Brew_ with downcast eyes, seating himself in the far corner while avoiding eye contact with Taako. Even though it hadn't been a competition to see if he really would last out there, Taako couldn't help but feel a little swell of smug pride, like he was some kind of winner because Kravitz finally decided to do his creepy lingering at an even closer distance. It was obviously far from the reality of the situation, but the way he turned his nose up at Kravitz with a smirk across his features whenever Taako 'just so happened' to walk by his table was there nonetheless.

Though the smug feeling faded, and the novelty of it all wore off pretty quickly. 

The thing was, the guy  _never_ ordered anything. Part of the reason he made the offer was because at least he'd be getting some sort of extra patronage, maybe even an excuse to really show off his cooking skills as opposed to just small nibbly items for on the go.  _Paloma's Brew_ was open 10 hours of the day, and Taako was there for 12. Over that much time  _surely_ he had to eat something!

But he never did. In fact, he never ordered anything to drink either (which  _really_ ticked him off. The coffee at  _Paloma's_ was practically famous due to that sneaky enhancement and the guy wasn't even going to give it a go? Rude, really). After a few days, he tasked Angus and Brody to keep an eye on him and find out if he was sneaking in some sort of nasty packed lunch. While Brody was obviously useless and would just shrug his shoulders, Angus was able to very confidently confirm that no, Kravitz brought a bottle of water with him, but even then, when he left in the evening it was still full. Taako scrunched up his face at that. Maybe he just did some hard drugs in the morning to keep his energy up, maybe he was on a strict diet of protein shakes to keep up that physique, maybe he was one of those nerds who were intolerant to, like,  _everything._ But in Taako's mind, this was a personal attack, a deliberate display of rudeness just to piss the chef off.

"Psst, Brody." Taako whispered, half his face poking out from behind the door to the kitchen, his eyes glaring straight at Kravitz in his dumb little corner, typing away on his dumb little laptop that was plugged into a dumb little power socket and using the energy that TAAKO was paying for.

Brody casually threw a tea towel over his shoulder, stupidly causing some nasty, wet mess to flick into the air behind him. Gross, "What's hangin', Mister Bossman?"

Taako rolled his eyes, his tongue gagging out in disgust. God, this kid was the worst, "You've got nothing on Ango, but you see that miserable sack of shit in the corner?" Taako started, nudging his head towards Kravitz, "Make him a latte with full cream milk and  _lots_ of foam yeah?"

Brody exaggeratedly looked between the two of them, even pointing straight at Kravitz while he was looking. The investigator just rose a inquisitive eyebrow at Taako, face full of confusion before returning to his work.

"So you're giving tall, dark and handsome a drink on the house, my dude? Boo-ya! Boss dude is getting some! Mr T. is DUNKIN' on that ass!" Taako continued to just cringe, staring at Brody in utter disbelief. Taako hadn't been around humans for too long but even he knew Brody's linguistic skills were disgustingly outdated.  _Why_ had he ever trusted Magnus' recommendation? "You want me to, like, draw some hearts and leave your number, that'd be totally off the hook!"

For a minute, Taako just stared at him, jaw hanging and eyes blinking as he tried to process the sheer existence that was Brody, before shaking his head and clearing his throat.

"Why would you ever do that, then he'd think  _you're_ flirting with him," Taako started, his eyes going wide as he realised what he had implied, "and _no one_ is flirting with  _anyone_ _!_ I just haven't seen him eat or drink literally anything, it's an experiment on a freeloader."

Brody shot a pair of finger guns at Taako before walking back over to the coffee machine, "Whatever you say, hombre."

Taako huffed, an angry pout on his face, "You know I can fire you at any time, right? Don't test me, _hombre_." Before twirling on his heel and sliding back into the kitchen.

Despite the animosity towards Kravitz that Taako had no qualms about expressing, the guy was well mannered, and when offered a free beverage _surely_ he wouldn't turn it down, even if it was served by douchebag Brody. If he did drink it, then it would knock out the intolerance, weird strict diet and government implemented grey-goo of sustenance theories Taako had.

As discretely as possible, Taako peered out the circular window of the kitchen and into the cafe. It was just after morning rush on a weekday, so the store was relatively quiet save for the usual stay-at-home trophy spouses having their gossip sessions over a drink. Brody soon appeared in his field of vision, carrying a mug. Taako grinned when he saw the sheer amount of foam piled on top, and the dumb winky face he'd made into the cup by removing bits of the foam. The kid was useless at actual coffee art but at least he had a sense of humour. When Brody placed the drink in front of Kravitz, the older man blinked in surprise, looking between Brody and the drink. While Taako couldn't understand what they were talking about exactly, he  _could_ point out the exact moment that Brody must have dropped his slang. He snorted at the brief way Kravitz's face dropped and how he quickly forced it back into a polite facade once more.

After forcing Kravitz into the most awkward and uncomfortable 'high-five, too slow!' Taako had ever seen, Brody returned to the counter, waving a hang ten at Taako through the window. Taako just rolled his eyes, turning his focus back to Kravitz.

However, rather than Kravitz eyeing off the cup before him, Taako found the man to be much more intrigued by a note that he was reading. Wait, a note? What the hell was Brody doing? Writing notes is  _not_ his job, and if it was some dumb 2000's meme printed on paper like the ones Taako knew for a fact Brody carried in his pocket at all times...

Kravitz's eyes moved straight to the window, meeting Taako's own gaze immediately. Shit! Brody had written that it was from him or something, fuck that kid! The chef let out a little squeak, embarrassed to have been caught, but despite how much he wanted to duck down and hide immediately, something about the gaze locked him there. The look Kravitz was giving him wasn't accusatory, not even humoured because Brody  _definitely_ did something embarrassing, it wasn't even confused.

It was just a little bit curious.

With a small smile, Kravitz raised his mug to his lips, keeping firm eye contact with Taako. He took a large sip before placing the cup back down on the saucer, leaving a hefty amount of foam stuck to his upper lip. At the sight of a strongly built, handsome, private investigator with a foam moustache bouncing around on his upper lip, Taako couldn't help but cackle unceremoniously. Kravitz blinked a couple of times before lifting his fingers to his upper lip, blushing a very pretty shade, and hastily wiping it all off with a napkin. His head lowered in embarrassment a little, eyes still flitting over to Taako occasionally before returning to his work with a smile and freshly reddened cheeks on his face.

With a shake of his head and a grin, Taako took a step away from the window. He felt a warm, bubbly sensation flood in his gut, a wave of energy sending butterflies through his veins and making his heart thrum just a little bit stronger.

Another feed of energy from a customer made happy, that's what it was, right?

 

* * *

 

 

And so the days carried on. Taako still made a deliberate attempt to not approach Kravitz, however the tension faded into a more mutual tolerance, the two nodding their heads at each other in passing before carrying on with their days. Kravitz would arrive at 7 and leave at 5 like clockwork, the investigator returning to his own private life when  _Paloma's_ closed its doors. Despite the weeks passing by in this fashion, Taako couldn't help but half expect a tall, dark figure to follow him home, though every time he would look over his shoulder he would find no noteworthy presence.

Some nights Taako would wake from his meditation with a gasp and a cold sweat pooling over his skin, the heavy and foreboding feeling of being watched making his skin crawl. This wasn't a new occurrence, however he had noticed it had increased since Kravitz' initial appearance. The elf would practically turn his house upside down, searching for where the presence may be, but his journey always just ended with staring out his apartment window for the rest of the night hours, as though just that would will the presence to make itself known. However, even with his keen dark vision, nothing would become apparent to him despite his efforts. Taako would return to his bed with a sigh, reducing himself to just waiting for dawn rather than return to his meditation. He knew he wasn't _actually_ being watched by anyone; couldn't be. Kravitz had to sleep too. It was just the nightmares making him over react, but regardless of how often he told himself that, he still would be unable to will himself to rest, the burning sensation on the back of his neck still ever present despite facts and reason. 

It didn't matter. He didn't need a lot of sleep anyway.

At some point Kravitz and Angus seemed to form a bond. It started with Taako just so  _happening_ to accidentally make an extra serving of whatever he cooked and telling Angus to give it to someone who might need it. Somehow the two found a common interest; some dumb detective books, and from there they just kicked it off. The ever diligent worker-bee Angus McDonald was officially spending an excessive amount of time exchanging pleasantries with the enemy.

Taako would scowl at the pair whenever they laughed too loud, or when Angus' eyes shone just a little too bright with enthusiasm over some sort of story Kravitz had to tell. It made sense in a way; Kravitz wasn't entirely shy with sharing his status as an 'investigator' and Angus, the star student absolutely aceing his Psychology and Criminology course, was clearly smitten over being able to have so much contact with a professional in the field, regardless of who his current target was. It wasn't that Taako was  _jealous_  over how close the pair had grown or anything, he was just pissed off that Angus was neglecting his own work responsibilities. Yeah, that was it. Who'd be jealous of a pair of nerds anyway? Not Taako, that's for fucking sure. 

However despite Taako's excuses to himself, Angus was still very much on top of his job. Even with the supposed distraction he was still miles ahead of Brody, attending to every customer's needs promptly and with as much care and kindness one could possibly muster.

Which is why certain customers  _really_ set Taako off.

Despite what YA literature may lead one to believe about the romance of a coffee shop, jobs in any service area could be a living nightmare. In retail and hospitality, you really got to see the best and worst of what humanity had to offer, and unfortunately it was the worst that was more frequent.

It was ten minutes or so before _Paloma's_  was scheduled to close, and while it wasn't necessarily quiet at this point in the evening, the customers that walked in at this time were very rarely anything but take out orders, as they were business people all just eager to retire to their own homes for the remainder of the day. The last half hour usually marked the time when Taako would begin clean up of the store due to this fact. Food orders were rare so it was the perfect time to clean the kitchen as well as wipe down tables and bring in the furniture from outside with Angus. Occasionally, when Taako was occupied cleaning the kitchen, he would notice Kravitz helping Angus to bring in the tables and chairs, the two chatting away happily about something or other. When Taako would question how Angus managed to get the job done so easily, the boy would just shrug his shoulders with a small smirk, winking as Kravitz would sink his nose further into the work on his laptop in embarrassment.

Whatever. If he was willing to do free labour  _and_ manage to make Angus happy then so be it.

On this particular day, Taako had been wiping down the tables ( _definitely not_ spending more time than necessary on the ones close to Kravitz) while Angus worked on clearing the counter when a huffed customer walked in. She looked to be in her mid 30s, hair slicked back into a too tight bun at the base of her neck and fatigue resting heavily below her eyes, side effects of the apparent 9 to 5 grind, most likely. This wasn't unusual. The city of Goldcliff was home to thousands of professionals, and most of them were filled to the brim with stress and dissatisfaction. It was why Taako's business was so successful, really.

With confident strides she made her way up to the counter, not even giving Angus a chance to greet her before stating her order; Americano, scalding hot and with a shot of vanilla. Angus' smile had only faltered for a moment over her attitude, but like the brilliant employee he was, he was quick to maintain face and happily thank her, asking her to just wait a moment and he would be sure to make it the best he could, 'just for you ma'am'.

She muttered a little under her breath, not even looking up at Angus but just scrolling through her phone, probably looking through some emails that she hadn't gotten to earlier in the day. Quicker than usual, Angus passed her takeaway cup to her with a large grin to which she replied to with a hurried 'thanks' and a snatch of her cup as she walked to a table in the corner. Taako couldn't help but roll his eyes a little. He had  _just_ wiped that one down, and if she was going to be one of those ones that tried loitering for hours to use the free WiFi, Taako wasn't going to be having it. Bitch had ten minutes and that was  _it._

Oh well. He felt the little buzz he got from her energy and got back to work. She was a paying customer after all and while the energy he got from her really wasn't all that much, it still counted for something. He decided to move over to the tables on the other side of the store, close to Kravitz, since it was always a little awkward cleaning the tables surrounding someone trying to drink (definitely not to have a peek at what Kravitz was up to, absolutely not). Kravitz was slowly beginning to pack up his own things; his book was closed and put away in his bag and while his laptop was open, Taako could tell it was just open on Facebook. He scoffed a little. Yeah, real hard at work, buddy.

"Hey kid!" A voice called, interrupting his observations (spying), "Yeah this isn't what I fucking ordered." Taako's eyes lifted to the woman sat at the other side of the cafe, her eyes as small as slits targeted straight at Angus and her mouth turned up into a smug expression as she waved the cup around. Taako's eyes shifted over to Angus briefly, noticing the way his eyes darted around nervously. Angus took a deep breath to centre himself, before walking over to the woman at her table, Taako straightening himself and leaving the wipes on the table to better watch; this ought to be something.

With a sympathetic smile, Angus begun, "I'm very sorry for the mistake ma'am, may I ask what it is you intended to order?"

"What I  _did_ order was an Americano with a shot of vanilla, you gave me a loaded cup of caramel! Do you know how much of a mess this damn drink is now because of  _your_ idiocy?" That wasn't right at all. Angus looked over to Taako, eyes a little pleading. The thing was that mistakes did happen, and the general procedure was to make the customer a new drink and upsize it, however Angus  _didn't_ make mistakes, and Taako had 100% gotten his own positive feed. 

This bitch was trying to swindle them, and both of them knew it.

With a cough, Taako dusted his apron off before walking over to the other side, his own polite smile on his face, "My apologies for the mistake, ma'am," Taako begun, almost making himself sick with just how fake his tone was, but the woman seemed to appreciate it nonetheless, "Please allow me to make you another myself, on the house." He reached down to grab the cup from her table and had to bite down on his bottom lip.

The whole thing was fucking empty.

He couldn't help but scowl a little, his facade beginning to show cracks even through the smile he managed to keep. He rose his gaze briefly to Angus, noticing the way he gnawed at bottom lip, before slowly turning his eyes back to the customer and removing the lid at the slowest, most dramatic pace he could, gaze burning holes through the customer's own.

Nothing

"Excuse me for my rudeness, ma'am," Taako begun, tone still polite yet with the expression on his face the threatening message rang loud and clear, "But may I inquire as to why you drank an incorrect order?"

Her smirk just grew wider, "What's it matter? You gave me the wrong order and you'd have to throw it out anyway. Just get me what I actually ordered." Taako let out a shaky exhale, closing his eyes for a moment to collect himself. This wasn't the first time a customer had tried to pull this, and it certainly wouldn't be the last time, but these shitty attempts at scams just  _really_ ticked him off. If you're going to swindle someone at least make it a convincing con.

After a moment, his smile returned to him, and with a discrete flick of his wrist he cast Charm Person. No customer was too difficult to deal with when a guy had magic right at his fingertips, "I'm very sorry but I won't be making you another drink today and I kindly ask that you vacate the premises. While I  _hate_ to be such a bearer of bad news, I hope you can understand that trying to pull a stunt like that is very disrespectful to my staff and I."

A moment of silence.

"Excuse me?!"

Oh fuck.

FUCK.

Spell = failed. That was the first time in a while

F U C K K K K K K

The woman's face was now sour as she pushed herself from her table, leaning straight into Taako's personal space and practically spitting on him, "You  _dare_ accuse me of 'pulling stunts'? I'm a fucking paying customer, when I exchange money for goods and services, I expect to receive what I paid for in the first place, and you have the  _hide_ , the  _NERVE,_ to accuse me of lying?!" Taako had to close his eyes, the warm breath of air fanning across his face just too gross to really face her properly, "I know my rights, asshole! Do you know who I am? I'm talent management for some of the top stars in this shit hole, what do you think would happen if one of my clients were to talk bad about your business, huh? Do you know what would happen, mister big business man? Because it doesn't sound like to me you have any fucking cl-"

Her voice stopped abruptly, the assault of spit and empty threats ceased and allowed Taako to open his eyes once more. Looming beside Taako was Kravitz, his own drink now placed on the table as he eyed up the customer carefully. The silence stretched on for too long, both customer and Taako having no idea  _why_ Kravitz decided to enter the scene and  _why_ he insisted on standing directly beside Taako.

Politely, Kravitz started, "Forgive me for this, but-" and picked up the empty cup, only a drop or so clinging to the bottom, before he dug his broad finger into the bottom and brought the remainder to his lips, carefully tasting the product. Everyone in the room grimaced a little, and while Taako could tell where this was going it was still weird to see someone just do that as confidently as Kravitz did. That had to be like, a health thing right? There was definitely backwash in there to some degree, and she was a total stranger. He puckered his lips a little, a small scowl on his face, "You see ma'am, I understand that as a customer this whole scene isn't really any of my business, but frankly it's a little embarrassing to watch. I happen to have quite a discerning palette, and actually, I'm quite the fan of caramel myself," He continued, gesturing to his own cup. The smile on his face was polite and warm but the look in his eyes was far from it. Even when Kravitz had been literally trying to kill Taako, that murderous glint hadn't been present, "And that is definitely not caramel."

Taako snorted, and the woman's face turned beet red, her eyebrows knitting together in fury, "Back off, buddy. This ain't your fight."

Kravitz clicked his tongue, shaking his head a little with a smile, "No I suppose it isn't, however...My peaceful, relaxing time here being rudely interrupted by someone _pathetic_ enough to try manipulate a kid just trying to do his job out of a five dollar drink and then thinking simple retaliation will help them get their way when they're called out?" Kravitz just smiled, "It's laughable really, and I suppose I've been in need of a little bit of fun as of late. Do you have any other jokes? Besides yourself of course."

The woman's jaw practically hit the floor and Taako couldn't choke back the small laugh that crawled up his throat. Sure, they weren't really very  _good_ insults, they were the kind middle-aged people thought were really sassy but really lacked any proper kick, but the image of just some stranger in a full three piece suit and a cool demeanour to match stepping in with that completely unprovoked? It was definitely memorable. 

She  was practically shaking in front of them, her mouth opening and closing like a dumbfounded fish as she tried to form some sort of logical string of words. Angus was still off to the side with his hands over his mouth, eyes flitting around across all their faces as he waited for what awful happening was about to occur, and Taako? Taako was clutching his fucking stomach, lips sealed tight as he tried to keep some semblance of a professional image about him. 

And perhaps it was that humoured state of both Taako and Kravitz that triggered her next actions.

Her eyes darted around her as she looked for something to use when they landed on Kravitz' cup, placed on the table beside her own empty one. She grinned, and in one swift motion that Taako and Kravitz were too slow to notice over their own giggling, she pulled off the lid of the cup and threw the contents all over Kravitz's suit.

Silence.

Taako, Angus and Kravitz all turned their widened eyes towards the mess that stained the once perfectly clean and ironed shirt, the brown liquid bleeding slowly through the fibres and spreading like a violent and sudden wound. The man just stood there, his arms outspread as he watched the mark grow.

"You wanna be involved so bad?" The woman begun, slamming the empty cup down onto the table, "Well you are now. Real fun, ain't it?"

The two older men both slowly focused their gazes onto the woman, any humour having faded into a sheer rage that both shared, "Ango?" Taako begun, voice cold and eyes boring through the monster before him, "Can you take Kravitz to the kitchen to clean him up, honey?" He let out a little squeak of what Taako assumed to be nervous agreement before taking Kravitz' hand and quickly ushering him to the back. The two shared some sharp whispers which Taako probably could have deciphered had he put in a bit of effort, but his attention was directed elsewhere in the moment.

When the doors swung to a close, the weight of the silence between the two truly made itself apparent. The sickening aura spread throughout the store, as both waited for the other to make a move like animals in the jungle.

But Taako was a predator through and through. 

"You're going to leave my shop," Taako begun, closing his eyes and taking in a breath as a smirk spread across his features, "And you're never going to come back here, and you can tell your stupid little instagram models and dish soap advertisement actors whatever you please, but let me make one thing very clear to you, my dude."

And with a flick of his wrist, Taako cast Minor Illusion, his eyes snapping open violently to reveal the image of searing red eyes, so bright they looked practically like fire. He bared his teeth at her with a hiss, the once pristine and straight whites appearing jagged and fanged as he growled out his final message,

"No one's ever gonna fucking believe you, bitch."

Frantically, she stepped back, knocking over chairs as she tried to create whatever distance she could, breathing hard and eyes welling up in fear, but with a blink it was all over. He could feel the fear radiating off of her, his magic attuned to translate all strong emotions into magical potential, not just positive. He could feel it settle in his stomach, and sure, it was _strong_ , the amount of shit he could do with this was incredible, but the sheer weight of it made Taako nauseous. He could practically feel his bones rattling with it. He hated it. Who the fuck would want to absorb that shit? Taako turned the illusion off as suddenly as he made it appear and offered her a friendly smile, the same charming smile that so many were enamoured with. "Have I made myself clear, bubeleh?" He asked cheerily, the lightness in his tone betraying the intentions he just made very clear.

And she nodded. She quickly picked up her phone, already dialling a number as she walked backwards towards the front door, keeping her eyes on Taako the whole time as though she was worried she'd be pounced on at any given moment.

"Yeah, Ed, I'm going to have to reschedule..." And with that she bolted. Taako let out a chuckle, smiling a little triumphantly as he watched her move across the street and into the distance.

Idiot. 

 

* * *

 

 

Taako entered the kitchen with a heavy sigh. He'd locked the doors and turned off the front lights so at least there wouldn't be any more setbacks, but Taako was going to have to stay back later than he would have liked.

Not that he particularly enjoyed being at home as of late, but it was the principle.

Angus was fussing over Kravitz, desperately apologising and trying to pat him down with napkins despite the taller man repeatedly telling him that it was alright and he had it perfectly under control. 

He smiled a little. He was a good kid really, "Hey Ango?" Both the figures jumped a little, neither having noticed Taako's presence by the door.

"Sir, I'm so sorry, it's entirely my fau-"

"I thought you were meant to be smarter than this," Taako started. Angus swallowed heavily, mouth searching for words as he shuffled his feet, "It's not your fault kiddo, there's no need for you to say sorry, so don't apologise for it. Taako's got it all handled anyway." He smiled at the younger man warmly, trying to reassure him the best he could.

"Sir..."

"Go home for the night, buddy." Taako walked over to Angus and gave his shoulder a light pat, "It's been a long day and I don't want to have to pay any little shits over time if I have to." 

Angus laughed a little, though he still looked nervous, "I really should stay and help close, it's my job anyway regardless of whether it's my fault or not."

"Nope!" Taako called, practically pushing Angus towards the lockers, "Home time. I'm not a babysitting service, get the fuck out of my hair." Angus just sighed in defeat as he opened his locker and collected his few belongings, pocketing them before heading towards the back door.

"Alright sir..." He sighed, opening the door before a small smile split his face as he called, "ButI'mcominginearlytomorrow andyoucan'tstopme bye!!!!!!!!" Before running down the alleyway.

"Don't you dare, you gremlin! Fucking kids..." And despite his words, he smiled fondly as Angus ran away, laughing as he escaped any further threats or insults Taako might throw.

Emotions weren't really Taako's thing but...that kid was something. Not only was he incredibly talented, somehow he had managed to maintain a sense of genuine kindness and selflessness in a cold, heartless city, even throughout his adolescence. He was a little miracle, and Taako truly didn't deserve to have someone like that so loyal to him. 

"You two are very close." Taako broke from his thoughts, turning to face Kravitz as he closed the door with a sigh, "He looks up to you a lot, you know." Kravitz was leaning against one of the stainless steel benches, his vest now undone as he held an incredibly wet paper towel to his chest, a warm smile on his face but his eyes not quite meeting Taako's own. 

Taako scoffed a little, "Well you'd know wouldn't you?" The elf folded his arms over his chest as he moved back into the kitchen, "You two have been getting awfully buddy-buddy."

Kravitz scratched the back of his neck a little, "He's a very bright kid, I guess I see a lot of myself in him."

"He's not a kid. He's in university." Taako raised an eyebrow, a tight pout on his face.

Blinking a little, Kravitz started, "I know, I just...I guess you call him 'kid' a lot and it must have caught on."

"Yeah,  _I_ call him kiddo. Not you."

"Right... Sorry."

A silence spread between them, both staring at the floor a little awkward. It wasn't their first time talking per se; however ever since their brief discussion on the day after...well...that... neither had shared anything more than a couple glances or head nods, not words and certainly not in private, under circumstances where Taako knew he should probably be thanking the guy. To say the energy in the room was uncomfortable was the understatement of the century, and the silence just made it grow, caused Taako's skin to crawl and itch to run away.

Instead, Taako sighed, "Shirt." He stated simply, holding his hand out expectantly.

"Excuse me?"

"Give me your shirt. The longer it goes without getting cleaned  _properly_ the harder it's going to be to get out."

"Oh no, it's fine really, I can fix it when I go home..."

Taako rolled his eyes impatiently, "Jeez, you're real dense for a 'PI'," Kravitz just blinked a little, "I'm  _trying_  to thank you. Now take your shirt off, this isn't some crappy fanfic-coffee shop-AU trope where I tell you to take your shirt off so I can 'clean' it and then ogle you or some shit and fuck on the bench, that boat sailed night one. Plus that'd be like, a major health code violation and I really don't need another one of those." Kravitz coughed loudly, his cheeks turning bright pink, "Just let me clean it so we can be even or some shit."

With a sigh, Kravitz begun to shrug off his blazer, "You really don't have to..."

"It's a nice suit, no point letting it go to waste." Taako shrugged.

"It's work issued," he smiled a little as he began to work on the buttons, "A lot of cases end up a bit messy, ruining one more really isn't a big deal."

"Again, just let me do this, handsome." Kravitz shook his head but handed Taako the shirt regardless. 

The elf turned his back to him quickly, making sure to hold tight on that promise to not ogle Kravitz (but  _jeez_ , it only took one quick glance and that was certainly a sight to behold). He let the tap run for a little, holding his hand under the steady stream as he waited for it to turn warm. He was hoping that since it was so recent a little bit of dish soap and running water would get it all out, though he knew from experience how quickly coffee stains set in.

"I think Maggie keeps a few shirts in the bottom right locker. One of them should fit you, just bring it back tomorrow." Taako stated plainly, moving the garment under the water and beginning to scrub at it gently.

"Do people at coffee shops usually keep spare clothes?" Kravitz asked while opening the locker. He fingered at the garments a little nervously, unsure if it was really okay to be borrowing clothes without the actual owner's consent.

"Accidents are pretty common, and Magnus tends to attract disaster a little more than others, even if he's here less often." He smirked fondly.

While a fair amount of the stain was running free, the water had started to run clear and despite Taako's best efforts a nasty, yellow mark still sat loud and proud against the white fabric. Taako cussed a little under his breath, adding more soap and putting in some more elbow grease. He had to at least do this one thing right today.

"So," Taako begun bluntly, "Do I get to ask my questions?"

Kravitz paused briefly before putting on a graphic 'Crit Happens!' tee that he had pulled out. It was still a little tight around the shoulders, but it'd do for the night, despite how awfully it clashed with his aesthetic, "I suppose now's as good a time as any."

Taako hummed a little, eyes still trained on the shirt as he listened to Kravitz settle behind him once more, "Who's your employer?"

"Her name is Raven," Kravitz answered promptly, "I suppose she's more of a leader than an employer."

"And the organisation?"

"A sort of ancient sect. It was originally formed by some of the Old Gods in order to maintain the natural order of life and death. Nowadays it's more designed to ensure certain... creature's... aren't abusing their powers, taking people before their time and whatnot."

Taako just snorted at that. What a load of absolute bullshit (he wasn't going to get started on the choice of the word 'creature' and its racist connotations but whatever). 

"I'm sorry, is something about my job funny to you?"

"No, no not at all," Taako begun, "Taako just doesn't do Gods."

There was a beat of silence between the two before Kravitz continued, "Despite how much you've probably seen of the world, you don't believe in higher powers?"

"Oh they exist alright, but that doesn't mean they're not a scam."

"Care to explain?" 

Taako sighed. Despite Kravitz' dedication and servitude to his God, Taako was almost certain he'd had more experiences with the Gods than any human around, and he didn't exactly want to go around shattering people's faith. Regardless of what people have to say about religion, for most it was what grounded people, and to take that away isn't always a great thing. Taako turned off the tap, giving up on the disaster of a shirt before turning to face Kravitz.

"Gods aren't...above us," Taako begun, watching the way Kravitz raised an eyebrow, "There's literally spells, my dude. With enough work and talent anyone can be a God, and besides, they don't give a shit about any of us down here," Taako swallowed a little, trying to pick his next words carefully, "They're just people, and people run when things get messy."

Kravitz nodded a little to himself, considering Taako's words. He didn't seem hurt or angry, but he just looked...almost sorry? And that pity was probably worse than any other way he could have reacted. 

So Taako did what he did best; changed the subject before it got too personal.

"What I want to know most though, big guy, is how exactly  _you're_ using magic strong enough to shake off my own, because that shouldn't be possible."

Kravitz let out a small laugh, "So you're allowed to use magic but no one else can?"

"I'm the great and famous Taako, rules don't apply to me, homie. So what is it? An item? Was it the blade?"

Kravitz just shook his head with a small smile before taking in a deep breath, "Our God offers us her blessing, and we carry it in our blood."

"Huh. Sounds fake but okay." And Taako turned back to the shirt to assess the damage. It was an interesting notion, despite how unlikely it seemed. Gods didn't really care about humans enough to do that, not without some sort of contract of eternal servitude, and even then, that would make Kravitz practically a walking, talking, portable battery of magical potential. He'd pretty much be the equivalent of a hot spot, just to a smaller degree, as opposed to what Taako was doing which was essentially redirecting bonds to focus on himself. 

Lup would have killed for a chance to experiment with that.

"And what about you?" Taako snapped out of his thoughts as Kravitz spoke, "If you don't do Gods, then where exactly does your own magic come from?"

Throwing a wink over his shoulder, Taako simply said, "Everyone's got their secrets, handsome, where's the fun in just telling you?"

"But I just answered all your questions?"

"HA!" Taako let out, "That's your own damn fault, sweetheart. Everyone knows to keep at least some of their cards to themselves, secrets are the bargaining chip of the future."

"Bargaining chip?"

The elf nodded with a hum, "You know, 'show me yours, I'll show you mine'? It's like currency, but you gotta make sure you've got some guarantee you're going to get it in return, homie, you can't just lay out your  _entire_ tragic backstory all at once." Taako turned back around to face Kravitz once more. The taller man appeared to be deep in thought, scratching at his chin a little while he stared at Taako, as though trying to add the puzzle pieces of the Taako enigma together.

Eventually, he smiled a little, "May I propose a game?"

Taako didn't like the sound of that at all.

He shrugged his shoulders though, "Sounds kinky, what is it?"

"Just a bit of 'show me yours, I'll show you mine..."

"Oh,  _definitely_ kinky."

Kravitz interrupted him and continued, "We get to ask each other one question a day. You can figure out what you need to about me and I can get at least  _some_ data on you. Scratch each other's backs a little per se."

Taako smirked, "And why would I do that? I already asked what I wanted to."

Kravitz shook his head a little bit, "You only touched the surface," he begun, reflecting Taako's own smugness, "What I gave you is about as much as you gave me with the word 'elf'. Not very helpful. You don't even know my God's name."

Taako thought it over. Was there really a whole lot to be gained? Probably not. Taako wasn't losing anything by not knowing about Kravitz, however Taako had  _everything_ to lose. And yet...

It sounded fun. The past couple of weeks had just been so  _boring_. Nothing had happened, the only thing Kravitz' investigation had lead to was an uncomfortable mood between the two. Maybe a little friendly competition could kill that.

"My concern, my dear Kravitz, is that I have a lot more to potentially lose than you." Taako begun, taking a few steps closer to where Kravitz stood, leant casually against the bench.

"My job's not to kill you, Taako," Kravitz reiterated, "Just to observe."

"Forgive a guy for not trusting the stranger that has, historically, tried to murder me," He said with a small giggle, "You can only ask me yes or no questions."

"That seems a little unfair."

"Expecting me to fully trust you solely by your word seems a little unfair to me, my man." Kravitz didn't argue that, in fact made a bit of an expression and gesture that seemed to say he agreed.

"So is that a deal?" Kravitz asked, hand outstretched.

Taako looked at it with a grimace, but shook hands with Kravitz regardless,  the cool of his skin a little bit surprising, but not necessarily unpleasant.

"Better get that blazer on, Kravo, seems you're a little chilly." Taako, said, shaking his hand once more before removing it and stepping backwards.

"Poor circulation." Kravitz said, sporting a smile that seemed to hold a thousand secrets. Oh, this was definitely going to be fun.

"So you got a question or what?"

There was a brief pause as Kravitz thought to himself, and then he said, "Can I see your ears again?" Taako blinked a little. That was...unexpected to say the least, "Sorry it's just...the first thing I thought of. You don't have to." Taako shuffled on his feet a little bit, unsure of what to do in said scenario.

"Couldn't you just magic me up again if you really wanted to?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

Kravitz poked the side of his nose twice, "That'd be a question, now wouldn't it? I think you've gotten enough of those today." Taako stomped his foot a little with a curse. Really? He wouldn't even answer something small like that? Jerk.

There was a moment of silence as Taako contemplated his choices. It would be very easy to say no, and frankly? Taako didn't really want to do it. Removing his disguise didn't just mean making his ears show, it meant showing  _everything_ , and he wasn't totally sure he wanted to be seen that way. No one other than himself (before Kravitz that one night) had seen his real face for almost a decade, and even then Taako only saw it for a couple of minutes a day. On the flip side however...

This was part of the challenge, wasn't it?

"It's kind of embarrassing..." Taako mumbled, swinging his leg and wringing his hands, "The spell isn't just the ears, it's the whole package."

"It's okay," Kravitz offered, and the warmth in his voice took Taako aback a little, "It was a question, not a request. You don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable." And it was something about that that made Taako feel a little more okay. It wasn't comfortable per se but... for some reason he felt he could trust Kravitz to not make fun of him. The guy had seen it for a glimpse already, so what was the big deal?

"Just don't make fun of me..." Taako grumbled, twisting his braid a little as he trained his eyes to the ground. With an inhale, he shut his eyes and forced the spell to stop before it's natural lifespan. Dropping the disguise was fairly instantaneous, and despite how different he looked to himself and others, the feeling of his body didn't change. It was illusion magic after all, not transmutation, but despite not being able to physically feel the change he knew exactly what parts looked different to Kravitz now.

His ears were one thing. They were far larger than a humans, droopy and currently downturned from the embarrassment. The thick gap between his teeth would become blaringly obvious to Kravitz when he next spoke but for now they were hidden. His nose would be more pointed, the constellations of freckles across his entire body would prop up, but more so, the signs of fatigue would stand out like a sore thumb. Despite the natural 'glow' that both his disguise and all elves proudly boasted, Taako's skin had grown dull and dry, pulled taut over his cheekbones and jaw with heavy bags under his eyes to match. His hair was brittle and miles less shiny than he preferred it to appear.

Taako was a tired looking, stressed mess, and here he was standing in front of Kravitz, allowing a practical stranger to assess it all.

Nervously, Taako lifted his gaze to make eye contact with Kravitz. The expression on the other man's face was...well it was something Taako hadn't seen before, and he really wasn't sure how to decipher it. The most likely translation was that Kravitz was disgusted, and with Taako's disguise constantly up, yeah, that wasn't a look he was really used to.

"I'm not a zoo animal, you know." Taako huffed, lowering his face again, too embarrassed to keep looking as Kravitz processed it all.

"No, not at all!" Kravitz started, snapping out of whatever thoughts it was he was having, "You're just-"

"Yeah, I know," Taako interrupted with a scoff, "It's a lot, you don't have to remind me."

"No, Taako, you're-"

"What? 'Interesting'?" Taako's temper was rising a little, and while he knew he was being irrational for letting his insecurity get the best of him, he couldn't stop it, "'Unique'?, 'Different'? Any other bullshit term that's meant to sound positive but still ensures I know I'm not 'normal'? Come on Kravitz, lay it on me. It's nothing I don't know already."

Kravitz let out a heavy sigh, "What I was  _going_ to say, Taako, was beautiful, before you interrupted me."

Taako just blinked, his eyes wide like saucers as he stared at Kravitz, waiting for the punchline to come and yet it never did. Instead, Kravitz just stared at him, that same warm smile and soft eyes that he used when Taako said he was allowed to sit inside from now on, the one when he said Taako didn't  _have_ to drop his disguise, that same stupid expression that made Taako wan't to believe in Kravitz, made Taako think that maybe he actually  _cared_. 

But he wasn't stupid. This was just a job to Kravitz. The way he was looking at Taako was nothing more than analysing the available data.

"Whatever..." Taako mumbled under his breath, reapplying his disguise back on in a click (not to hide the blush on his face, definitely not that). He turned his back to Kravitz and picked up the shirt with a huff. It wasn't really going to get any better than what it was, "That mystery God of yours ever teach you Prestidigitation by chance?"

"Excuse me?"

"Crummy God if you don't even know your cantrips," Taako laughed, already having removed the past exchange from his mind, electing to ignore whatever dumb feelings that whole scenario had brought up. Taako threw the wet shirt at Kravitz, the garment landing on his face with a heavy slap, "Stain's not coming out, but I've already wasted a spell slot for your little game and I don't plan on using more magic on you homie, sorry bout it." He shrugged.

Kravitz just nodded, "Understandable. Maybe I'll look into this 'Prestidigitation' and fix it myself."

"I thought you said it'd just get replaced?" Taako asked, his head cocked to the side.

"I mean... it will be," Kravitz scratched the back of his neck, "But it might be good to learn anyway. We only get taught spells that are considered useful for the job."

"Cantrips are a valuable skill for all aspects of life. If you're a good boy I might even teach you," Taako offered, facing the sink again so he didn't have look at Kravitz, "Good ol' Taako's a pretty decent teacher, you know?"

And while Taako couldn't see it himself, Kravitz let a little bit of excitement shine in his eyes at the thought, "I think I'd like that very much," Kravitz begun, "Maybe when the job is done."

Taako frowned a little but he certainly wasn't surprised. Kravitz was a workaholic, that much was obvious, but it was disappointing regardless. Taako had almost forgotten their places, it had been easy to think that getting to know Kravitz and spend time with him would actually be fun. Under other circumstances, the pair maybe could have even been friends.

But it was what it was.

With a overdramatic stretch, Taako let out a staged yawn, "Taako's gonna lock up for the night. I'll come in early tomorrow to finish the cleaning or something," He pulled the keys from his pocket and swung them around his finger lazily as he headed towards the door, "Grab your shit and skedaddle, homie."

Kravitz just nodded, pulling his blazer over his shoulders before heading to the now dark seating area to collect his bag and laptop that he'd abandoned earlier. As informative as their little bonding session had been, Taako wanted it to be over ASAP. He didn't like that they actually got along. He didn't like the fact that he wanted to be nice to Kravitz, and he  _hated_ how easy Kravitz made it for Taako to want to open up.

It had been more than enough for one night, especially after so many years of not being honest about literally anything in his life.

Kravitz returned quickly, walking through the door Taako held open without any further prompt, and with a click  _Paloma's Brew_ was empty of all drama for at least one more day.

The pair walked down the alley in silence, the bitter cold wind tunnelling through the cramped space and whipping through their hair, the beads in Kravitz' hair clashing together and ringing out their own little melody. Taako was quick to stuff his hands into the pockets of his coat, avoiding the cold as much as possible, but despite the thin cotton shirt and apparent poor circulation, Kravitz didn't seem all that disturbed by the temperature. Not that it mattered, some people liked the cold.

Not fucking Taako though, that was for sure.

When they reached the bustling, main street, both of them stood in their tracks. While Taako knew they both went different directions from that point on, there wasn't really any need to wait for an exchange of farewells or anything. Yet both of them stood still, waiting for something as they watched the people of Goldcliff hurry pass to return to their own homes.

"So uh-"

"Thank you for before, Taako." Kravitz interrupted. Taako looked up to face Kravitz, surprised to find the other man had already been staring at him.

"It's uh...it's all good, man. I agreed to the question thing and like...you've already seen it, so..." Taako shrugged, stuttering a little as he tried to find the right words.

"Regardless, it was a very big and frankly inappropriate request," Kravitz begun, "I can only imagine how difficult it must have been, and I greatly appreciate you putting that trust in me."

Taako just kicked his feet around a little, more interested in the ground than Kravitz, "Like I said, no biggie." He was lying, and it was clear that Kravitz could tell how big of a deal it was, but the elf was grateful that Kravitz had the decency to not push it any further than that.

With a heavy sigh, Kravitz spoke "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, Taako," Taking a few steps down the bustling street, his voice beginning to carry with the crowd, though he had no qualms about raising it to be heard, "And I meant what I said. You're...certainly beautiful, no matter how you choose to dress yourself." And with one final smile, he turned his back to Taako and joined the masses in their pursuit for home. 

Taako puffed his cheeks in frustration, desperately wanting to yell some sort of retaliation but his brain was too scattered to really think of anything smart. Instead he just stuck the middle finger up high in the air, though it didn't prove effective against someone who wasn't even looking at him anymore. So instead Taako just sharply turned on his heel and began his own march home, feet heavy and cheeks flushed.

And despite the fact Taako had physically watched the investigator leave until he was long gone, just a number in a sea of people, he still couldn't shake the haunting feeling that he was being watched his entire way home.

 

* * *

 

 

The door to the old apartment opened with a violent slam, the sound obviously reaching the ears of fellow neighbours if the yells were anything to go by.

But he didn't give a shit. None of that crap mattered in that moment.

The floorboards creaked sadly with each heavy step he made, the route to the kitchen familiar to the man after so many years in this godforsaken city. 

With a shaking hand, he picked up the familiar picture frame; two men, all smiles and cheer standing in front of what, at the time, was an empty building, the one on the right holding a deed to the property and the one on the left with a bottle of champagne. Their eyes were both shining with so many dreams and hopes, ready to take on whatever the world had to throw at them.

He gripped the frame tighter, teeth gritting and anger boiling through his veins, hotter than it had in years. 

With one final release, he threw the frame across the room with a loud grunt. The glass shattered on contact with the brick wall before falling unceremoniously to the ground. He ran his hand through his hair, the wheels and cogs turning through his head as he added the evidence together. He'd always been smart. He always had a plan of attack, could map out his goals and build a bulletproof path to them like no other, and this was not going to be an exception.

In the corner of the room, surrounded in a pool of glass just waiting to cause injury, laid the faded picture of Taako, one of the few documentations of when he truly felt happy. 

One of the only images from _before_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaw drunk writing amiright lads
> 
> Sorry for the long time between updates!! Tbh writing is just a fun thing I do whenever I happen to be in the mood, and things have been a bit wild lately so I guess it hasn't been on my mind
> 
> In regards to the actual writing, this chapter was pretty dialogue heavy and I tend to find my style doesn't suit those sort of situations well so I think this chapter's a bit awkwardly written but idk i just wanted to progress this story a bit to get to future stuff so here we are. Regardless of how poorly it reads I hope at least some of y'all enjoy this at least a lil bit
> 
> As usual feedback is much appreciated!!!!!!!!! Both positive and constructive!!!!!!!! Thank you for stopping by!!!!!!!!!! and yeah!!!!!!!! I dunno when this will get updated next because the cosplay front is pretty full for me until April but I'll catch ya when I catch ya!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll also probably sober proof read this in the morning and cry over mistakes but oh well i wanna post now!!!!!!!


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